The Second Day of Christmas - One Day Only!

This is the second day of Christmastide.  We know that the boxes of Boxing Day originated in the United Kingdom and were given to tradespeople and servants as a monetary acknowledgement at Christmas - they were mentioned as "Christmas boxes" in Samuel Pepys' diary in 1663. References to the "Christmas box" for the poor and needy date back to the Middle Ages.   And even earlier, in the late Roman and early Christian era, metal boxes were placed outside churches at the Feast of Saint Stephen. Today it is as though there is a north pole and a south pole for Boxing Day - the shopping and sports frenzy of the greedy and hedonistic opposing the charities raising money for their causes. So it is no surprise that our charitable organizations have Boxing Day events: Today and every year, you can run for the YMCA in Hamilton.  Race day pickup and registration opens at noon.  Or one can go on a Charity Boxing Day Dip - and then again on New Year's Day for that one.  In Scarborough Harbour there's a raft race. That's Scarborough, U.K. On the hedonistic side, the British press reports record line-ups showing pictures of people leaving shopping malls with their arms full - at 6:00am.  The U.K. article said 90% reductions were the attraction. And for the sports-minded, in Grimsby, U.K.  there's an important announcement that supporters in the Main Stand will be asked to exit the stadium via the Pontoon Stand exit von Boxing Day.  A big sports day there. We didn't ask the question "What do the Chinese do at Christmas?" There are 1.379 billion people in China.  First of all to say "Merry Christmas" the translation turns out to be "Holy-birth happy."  The top three Chinese Christmas songs: We Wish You a Merry Christmas Silent Night Jingle Bells Read the translations at chinahighlights.com - they stray from the originals making them very entertaining.  How they sing them to the melodies with know is a mystery. We see the Niagara Escarpment forest at Campbellville on Christmas Day.  It really was that dark and blue-black.

Benjamin Franklin's Frugal Talk

Frugality has a great history in the United States.  Both Benjamin Franklin and Ralph Waldo Emerson extolled and promoted the 'simple life.' Quotes from Benjamin Franklin: 1. “A penny saved is a penny earned.” 2. “An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” 3. “Having been poor is no shame, being ashamed of it is.” 4. “He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money.” 5. “Rather go to bed without dinner than to rise in debt.” - Benjamin Franklin Today's pictures are the sort of 'castle ruin' we have in Ontario - a barn silo standing alone in an abandoned field. This one is up on the escarpment.

Stormy Weather

Wake Up on the Bright Side There was an ice storm in Southern Ontario yesterday that affected the areas west of us and around the lake to Toronto.  One could see how the escarpment plays a major role in our weather.  Towards the top of the escarpment, there was ice on the trees. At the bottom, it was raining.  Anywhere over the escarpment (which is south of us) the roads were icy and the trees encased in ice.  At the bottom of the escarpment there was rain. This was the scene at Benchscape where I garden the raised beds of herbs and flowers. Benchscape sits on the escarpment in Beamsville looking out over Lake Ontario to the north.  In the top picture, you can see the ice on the trees with the view out over Lake Ontario.   Everything was lightly coated in ice.

View From Above

I went out to see the Autumn colours yesterday.  I started at Beamer Park up on the escarpment.  The park is an example of a preserved Carolinian forest here in Ontario, and has excellent views out across the region.  The view in this picture is towards Niagara Falls, and one can see its high rises. The winds have been blowing the colours off the trees so there isn't the show that one might like for photographs.  And as the winds blew and blew, a storm blew in. The last picture is at Locust Lane, where the Hidden Bench barn is located, and looks out over the Lake. While the Lake is in this picture, there's no Toronto floating on the horizon today. Dezi and I arrived home just in time for the rain to start.

Stormy Skies Up on the Escarpment

I experience a different landscape up on the escarpment in Grimsby.  There are some orchards and vineyards, but the corn fields in these pictures seem more common.  And does the wind blow!  A storm came in earlier this week with high winds.  These bold, cloudy skies forewarned us.