Winter Hijinks, and Wishes

I'm half an hour early for lunch with my mom on this very rainy Friday in December (nice view while I wait though) so I thought I'd take a moment to reflect on the last little while in these brief moments of quiet before the inevitable hecticness of Christmas returns like an itchy but attractive blanket to wrap itself around me.

I've been keeping it pretty together aside from an embarrassing total wipeout spill in my driveway one unexpectedly icy day.  I ended up landing on one awkwardly bent shin on the ground- auggghwwww! There's also my trunk that doesn't close properly when it's cold outside, which has led to a couple of moments of me having to crawl through the backseat to open it via the 'emergency locked in the trunk release' (designed for kidnapping victims or the very cursed/clumsy?!?). Yesterday was probably the best example of this feat- picture me parked basically at the corner of Yonge and Eglinton, 6 days before Christmas, during lunchtime rush hour, hazard lights on in the right lane waiting for my coworker Kyla to bring me a 6' long sign, and my legs flailing wildly out the back door of the car while I squinch and struggle trying to reach that damn trunk release... Yup... There was the moment on last Sunday's Christmas Bird Count where I watched a fellow birder trip over a snow covered stump and collapse on the ground. I asked if she was ok, she got up, was good, kept hiking. I then immediately tripped over the same stump and collapsed into the snow. Cute and funny right? It was..until I burst out laughing, making my runny nose explode in front of three people I don't know that well. Agggggh Kristyn. Somehow I only fell four times that day, 11 hours of hiking through deep snow and over slippy surfaces, up and down hills. At one point I was even sprinting across an industrial construction site (while wearing $300 binoculars) looking for a snowy owl and I kept upright and all bodily fluids in check. Sometimes balance and coordination do come through for me! The snowy owl though, not so much. For more about this bird who is being spotted all over Ontario this winter, check out here: http://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/what-we-do/resource-centre/featured-species/snowy-owl.html

 

My hijincksy counterparts have not disappointed. Bailey, who hails from the snowy district of James Bay puts his head under the snow about 10x per walk, emerging with a confused but joyful face full of snow. Lately he has regularly been coming out of this pose with a Christmas-sprinkled pretzel or gingerbread stick (we can't figure out what it is). Jeff threw it far away from the sidewalk after pulling it out of Baileys mouth the second time he found it, but Bailey found one right beside the sidewalk with me the other day, leading Jeff and I to create a conspiracy theory about an entire sub-snow Christmas pretzel disposal site on our street.. This morning Bailey was so excited for our walk that he was bouncing vertically, all four paws leaving the ground at once. Very cute, his go to move for sure, but getting a bit too 'full of beans' as the dog walker calls him, he flipped fully over backwards and landed on his stomach facing the other direction. He was stunned, silent and unmoving- for exactly 2 seconds, until he resumed his bouncing, unscathed. Oh to be a dog.

A couple of weeks back Dawn told me her coworker was coining a new phrase: Dawning, but she didn't think he had it quite right (ovetanalyzing with a somewhat pessimistic spin). I agreed with her and said that, to me, Dawning would instead me getting your coat caught in the subway doors, or giving a presentation with toilet paper on your shoe. She wrote back that I was absolutely bang on- earlier that morning she'd presented to a VP with her fly down. I felt honoured to know her so well!

I want to wish everyone a hijincks free holiday and urge you to stay off the roads if they're really messy. Yes Christmas is (somewhat) wonderful and seeing your family is for sure the highlight, but the dangers of driving on icy or snowy roads simply outweigh the joys. Trust me, your family would much rather miss you this Christmas than every Christmas for the rest of their lives. To hosts, please don't put undue pressure on your guests to commute in dangerous conditions.  To guests, use your judgement when setting out on the roads, especially this icy weekend.

To all my friends, be safe, be happy and enjoy the holidays!