Longing for real winter

This just in from the Department of Useless Eulogies--As a Canadian, I'd like to say a few words in remembrance of winter's passing: Snowflakes. Snowshoes. Maple syrup taffy. Skis. Frost. Snowmobiles. Ice skating. Woolly caps with ear flaps. Snowball fights. Sledding. Snowmen. Icicles. Ice fishing. Flurries. Blizzards. Tire chains. Mittens. Snow angels. Hoar frost. Sleigh rides. ... And a nod to all the preparations I made in vain: A stack of reading for snow days. Finally buying a headlamp to read by if the power goes out. Having purchased and stored ice melt in handy-dandy pourable containers in several locations, including my car. Actually keeping the leopard skin XL snuggie my sister sent as a joke. Stocking up on edibles that don't need to be cooked -- again counting on downed electric lines. ... Although, with all the power outages in the last few days, maybe some of those things will come in handy after all.

Meanwhile, from the vantage point of our dusty non-winter, the world seems a little stranger every day; the George Washington chicken nugget look-alike notwithstanding. (For those of you who don't read the Drudge Report, a Nebraska woman just sold a three-year-old McD's Chicken McNugget for more than $8000 on eBay.

... She had it in her freezer because eBay took the auction down due to the policy on expired food. When she explained it was being sold for charity, eBay let the bidding continue).

Anyway, once the mysterious "they" started changing names, let alone the borders, of countries and defrocking planets like Pluto of their status, it all went to Hades for us kids educated in the '50s. ... Especially if you're the kid who thinks once you spend a lot of time learning something, it's not fair to change it. ... No wonder kids these days need an iTablet, er, Pad or whatever it is, just to keep up.

... and you can keep up with me at oliverdeplace@hotmail.com or on my Facebook page.