Boxing Day And On To Canada

Christmas day was great, feasting and fun with friends and family, then it was Boxing Day. I strolled over to a diner with the Private for a late and large portioned breakfast, tasty.  And after a well needed re-org we headed to the airport, objective? The Land of The Ice And Snow, aka Canada.

As everyone knows, flying's pretty miserable but our flight worked out well thanks to not one but two upgrades on account of the Private being active military traveling with orders. Good work AA, USO didn't hurt either.

So we ended up in the first two seats of the plane with a bizarre amount of legroom, comp drinks in real glasses, a meal with metal cutlery and all laid on, thank you very much. A bit like flying in the olden days and I tell you, it made the trip to Calgary most congenial.

And there we were, as if faster than you could say Justine Blackface Beta Socks Trudeau, landed at YYC. 

It was good to be back in the Great White North; I like Canada and I especially like Calgary. Stay tuned as this snowy mountain town adventure unfolds.

Merry Christmas,

LSP

A Short Walk in the Snow

"I am just going outside and may be some time," I said to no one in particular, as I left our shelter in search of beef broth.

The snow had intensified, making it hard to see, but in the distance I could just make out the Cult Collective, rising out of the drifts. I knew there was a shop nearby that sold broth, but would I make it?

I did, barely, and sensibly managed to detour out of the wind to a pub, where I drank a pint and watched the snow.

Later on we ate a standing rib with roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding. It was delicious.

Stay warm,

LSP

Ice Station Zebra

I got up this morning and it was snowing, but not the Christmas Carol, Tiny Tim, figgy pudding kind of snow. This was harsher, with a subzero wind driving particles of the white stuff, like tiny pieces of icy grit.

Sensible creatures, like bears, go to sleep in warm caves when the weather gets like this but, out of respect for Captain Scott, I went for a walkabout.

This took me to a new building that advertised itself as the Cult Collective. I immediately summed this up as a crew of marketeers, out to make a buck by cult status brand building. Customers, complain the Cult, "usually buy things because they have a need, not a burning desire." The Cult exists to reverse that and bank some tin.

As I parsed this in terms of idolatry, mammon and Keynesian, debt-driven growth, a woman paid her parking fee in the driving snow. "God it's cold!" she said. 

"It is a bit chilly," I replied.

"Just obscene."

I don't know if the woman was part of the Cult.

Be careful out there,

LSP

Sunday Snow!

Sometime during the night it began to snow and it hasn't stopped, yet. I'd forgotten what snow was, so I got up to have a cup of coffee and look at the wonder of it. All very magic of Kwanzaatide and they're predicting a lot more tomorrow, which is exciting to me, and a good incentive to look out on the winter wonderland from the fiery comfort of the Hyatt bar. A glass of something warming will be part of this.

But that's for the future. In the meanwhile, I enjoyed myself taking pictures of Stephen Avenue and Calgary's famous Tower, in the snow.

The Tower was lit up for Kwanzaa, which was a nice touch, I thought. I also noticed that the young Canadians who were ordering coffee at the hotel seemed diffident, as though they were apologizing for troubling the Croatian cashier with their purchase. That reminded me of being in England, where there's a tendency for people to cringe, bow and scrape before shopkeepers.

Of course Napoleon said that the English were a nation of shopkeepers and got soundly thrashed for his efforts.

I love the snow.

LSP