WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY

Winter made its official debut at 11:28 a.m. with the arrival of the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year if you live in the Northern Hemisphere.  That’s a sobering thought … for me anyway.

But, on a brighter note, after today we’ll start that long journey, creeping ever so slowly toward the Summer Solstice.  Ahh, longer days, sunshine and warmth … more walking days for sure.

I wish we could speed things up a little.  I won’t even get greedy and wish it was the Summer Solstice now.  I would be satisfied if it was the first day of Spring.

Well, I’m happy to tell you I finally made it back to Council Point Park.  I returned yesterday, still wearing heavy-soled hiking boots, as I anticipated snow and ice on the perimeter path.  I knew I’d need to watch my footing and be wary of those tricky slick spots, but I was able to navigate them just fine.

I was toting peanuts, a couple of withered apples I’d set aside a week ago, plus a runty-looking clementine, which looked to be unpeelable, though I was sure a sharp set of squirrel teeth might just rip that orange dimpled skin off in a heartbeat.  Good thing I was packin’ treats, since I was rewarded with a visit by a trio of squirrels just as soon as I began my trek along the perimeter path.  My treat load was a little lighter than when I left the house, however, having been hit up for peanuts by the squirrels on Pagel Avenue, as I meandered along that street enroute to the Park.

I poured out some peanuts and put the fruit nearby.  And, just like the little kid who peers into his Christmas stocking, then rips the foil wrapper off the marshmallow Santa, but leaves the orange hanging in the sock’s toe, the squirrels were no different.  They sniffed and left behind the fruit and took the peanuts to go.  They each took two peanuts, high up into a tree, to their respective hidey-holes.  The squirrels must have been weary pawing through that near-foot of snow that accumulated before our big thaw, so this time their stash was tucked away safe and sound … and within reach.

Two guys were sharing that perimeter path with me yesterday, and we lamented over the slick patches and that it was their first day back to Council Point Park as well.

The Ecorse Creek was still frozen over in some places, but mallards were paddling along in the cold water in other parts of the Creek, seemingly unperturbed by the thin skim of ice that surrounded their bodies.

I went back to the Park again today, but wearing my walking shoes this time.  I still toted treats, and the camera, but the squirrels were scarce this morning.  It was nippy as I wound my way around each walking loop.  Just like yesterday, I left the camera tucked inside its pouch – the scenery was just unremarkable and I wanted to stay focused on my footing.

I visited with Mike, the only other walker on the trail this morning.  He is finally wearing long pants, having worn shorts up until December.  Mike tells me he can walk faster in shorts, plus he does an admirable job of picking up the trash along the trail.  He does it because he likes to see Council Point Park looking good.  Like me, he also doles out peanuts to the squirrels … he beat me to the trail this morning, probably accounting for less squirrels begging at my feet.

Three and one-half miles yesterday and another four miles today, plus a visit to my favorite nature nook.  Who could ask for more?

P.S. – I am happy to have added several new subscribers to my blog and I thought I’d provide this four-season snapshot of the same fork in the path at the beginning of the trail at Council Point Park since I refer to this Park so often in my posts.

Nope, in case you were wondering, I am not simply resting on my laurels, nor slacking off on the walking regimen since reaching 1,000 miles.  That’s mainly because the weather is once again conducive for walking without fear of taking a tumble on the slick sidewalks or roads.  Unbelievably, it was 41 degrees when I set out this morning.

I walked yesterday, and today as well, adding another 7 ½ miles to my total.  No more goals this year … the rest is, as they say, just gravy.

The landscape around the neighborhood, and/or the Memorial Park parking lot, is nothing special, and certainly not picture perfect, so I didn’t tote along my camera.

Gone is most of that pristine snow that blanketed our state after a trio of snowfalls last week.  Admittedly, that snow might have once looked like the pretty image conjured up in Christmas carols, or pictured on the front of holiday cards, but now it is reduced to a sloppy, brown-tinged mess.

But, I am happy to be down to the dregs of the snow – good riddance to it.  As you know, I’m no fan of snow and ice anyway – a white Christmas does nothing for me.  So, tell me “bah humbug” or give me the moniker of “The Grinch” if you want, but, I’d be happy if the lawns stayed as green as Mr. Grinch all Winter.

I had to chuckle when a friend posted a meme on her Facebook page that read “if you’re praying for a blizzard, please go to Dairy Queen.”  Ha, ha … I echo those sentiments, but, unfortunately our nearby DQ closed in mid-October.

I finally took the car for a spin this morning, that is … further than just the end of the driveway.  My long-time followers and friends know that I am such a Winter Weenie because I despise driving in snow and ice.  In case you were wondering, this is the main reason why, when faced with snow and ice in the neighborhood, and at Council Point Park, I had to come up with an alternative way to get those miles walked, rather than just getting into the car and heading to the mall or to Meijer.

But, even though I am a white-knuckle driver in the wintry weather, I still prefer walking over driving all year around.  Since beginning this walking regimen in 2011, I started doing  a lot of errands on foot, until some minor electrical problems with my car happened and the mechanic said to drive it more.  I am happy to report I’ve driven 779 miles so far this year – this is more than double my usual amount!  Even the owner at the gas station where I fill up, put his hands in the air and exclaimed “you’re back again!”  I got the same reaction when it was time for my yearly oil change and the guys remarked that I was a real gadabout this year.  I take all the jesting in fun because they know me and my driving habits, and it is 100% true.

Actually, the roads were clear the past few days, but, since I work from home, there is no reason to crud up the car with salt and slushy grime unnecessarily, just to put it back into the garage, so I waited until the snow was totally gone from the street.  My boss scoffs at how I baby my car, saying “my vehicle is a box on wheels, a means to get from Point A to Point B – I do not understand your infatuation with keeping your car in showroom condition.”

Tomorrow I will trek down to Council Point Park, on foot, camera in hand, and pockets brimming with peanuts – hopefully the perimeter path is without snow or ice, so that trip will make my day and probably the furry critters’ day as well.

Today I reached my goal of 1,000 miles walked in 2017.

A couple of weeks ago, I confidently stated I’d get there, then, with this wintry weather, I was starting to have some misgivings about “putting it out there” for the world to see, even though there were still a few weeks left in 2017.

This morning, I planned to head to Council Point Park, figuring I jinxed my walks, as well as the poor squirrels, by buying six bags of peanuts a few weeks ago at Meijer.  I felt I owed them bigtime for these missed visits.  After all, up until last weekend, I was still walking four or five miles daily.  Now, all those brand-new packages of peanuts are stacked up in the cupboard, as well as a slew of Ziploc bags of peanuts ready to grab and go … but zero trips to the Park.

I warned those squirrels this might happen, and they should be prudent about squirrelling away some of those peanuts I was doling out so freely and plan for the long, cold Winter ahead.  But, even if they heeded my good advice, how in the world could they hope to find those peanuts under all the snow?  I doubt their other benefactors are beating a path to the Park now that the trail is covered with snow.  Maybe Tuesday’s temps in the 40s will help with a big meltdown of the white stuff.

Yesterday was perfect for a long walk, but, the sun was missing this morning – all day in fact.  Also, there was no light covering of snow to cushion those occasional icy patches on the neighborhood sidewalks, so I decided not to take a chance on a slip and fall by heading to Council Point Park, and moseyed over to Memorial Park instead.  To get more steps into my trek, I walked along Fort Street, and, as I neared the corner where the First Baptist Church is, the snow was littered with hay, and trampled down by hoof prints … and boot prints as well.  Hoof prints you say?  Yup, this church has a lovely living nativity reenactment every December and that event was last night in front of the church.

I headed to the Bandshell parking lot and did my laps, and, as tedious and boring as that trek was, it got me my desired steps and I headed home, happy to have reached this pinnacle in my walking regimen.  I know I could have reached this goal earlier, had I not had all the house issues this year … unfortunately, contractors and their aftermath kept me off the perimeter path many mornings.   Luckily, our mild January through March, and the fact we never had snow until the first week in December helped boost my walking miles as well.

I’ll keep on striding until year end and see how many more miles I can garner.  I hear we have a dry weather week though Friday which may be a mixed bag of precip – we shall see.

I will leave you with this quote and pat myself on the back and say “yeah me!!”

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” – Norman Vincent Peale

[Image by VCT310 from Pixabay]

I’ve definitely decided that the Winter season leaves me less than enamored with the Mitten State, a/k/a Michigan.  Last month, our governor declared residents of this state are officially to go by the moniker of “Michiganders” and not “Michiganians” – people have been using those names interchangeably for years, just like saying “Michigan” or “The Mitten State”.

Some of my newer subscribers to this blog are not from around here, so I want to tell you that Michigan got the nickname of the “Mitten State” by virtue of its unique shape that looks like a mitten.  People often joke, that if they move or travel out of state and meet fellow Michiganders, or even new friends, when asked where they hail from, they don’t say the Michigan city, but instead point to a place on their hand.  This is because Michigan’s upper and lower peninsula look like a pair of hands, the UP being a horizontal hand, and the lower peninsula which resembles an upright mitten.  Those references to our state sure make for interesting conversation sometimes.

This is where Detroit fits into the scheme of things:

Now, mittens are not a topic I’d usually dwell on, but, this week, my friend and fellow walker, Ann Marie and I, have been discussing how the snow and brutal cold have hampered our walking efforts recently.  While we were game to walk in the cold weather and similarly were enjoying our daily walks, bam … the snow and ice showed up and nothing is the same now.  We were also similarly bemoaning our cold fingers.

Since I’ve got the footwear squared away for the balance of the Winter season, now I had to tackle a new issue that has cropped up:  what to wear on my hands.

I noticed Tuesday morning while shoveling the first batch of snow, in wind chills close to zero, my fingers felt like they were frozen solid.  I hunted down my glove liners that I wore back in the days when I took the bus, and slipped them inside my heavyweight gloves.  But, I soon discovered, while getting a great cardio workout shoveling all the snow following Wednesday’s whopper snowstorm, those glove liners didn’t do a bit of good.  As a result, I kept dashing into the garage to warm up my hands.

Later that day, all warm and snug inside the house, I Googled for “gloves guaranteed to keep your hands warm”  and came upon some high-end ski gloves which cost $179.00.  Hmm – there must be a cheaper way to keep your digits from getting distressed.   Heck, I traveled on the bus to Detroit daily, for over three decades, and in Winter the bus often was often late, or didn’t show up.  I remember my fingers were cold sometimes, but never numb.  I wonder if I got frostbite sometime, or, is this another part of the aging process?  Perhaps I am just getting wimpy?

A second Googling attempt for the words “cold hands” brought dozens of references to the expression “cold hands, warm heart” and, while it may be a great sentiment for a Hallmark card, it didn’t tell me how to keep my frozen fingers from feeling like ten icicles.

So, I dug a little further, and bingo … I discovered the best solution for cold fingers was to wear mittens.

I have never been a fan of mittens, finding them cumbersome for driving, or shoveling, and, I avoided mittens while riding the bus downtown as they didn’t allow you to grip the metal grab bar securely, especially for those bus drivers who favored a jack rabbit start when new passengers got on the bus.  Whoa Nellie!!

Admittedly, mittens would not be too handy for feeding the often-impatient squirrels at Council Point Park.  And, if you are trying to take a picture while wearing mittens … well, forget about that!

I was persistent in finding a solution, and I next landed on a website where the article suggested that hands and fingers encased in mittens will stay warm much longer and avoid the risk of frostbite.  Who knew?  The article stated that the reason mittens are warmer for your hands is that when wearing gloves, your fingers must fend for themselves and those individual fingers won’t fare well, so using mittens will help extend your body heat to your fingers.  The author suggested if you don’t have mittens handy, the alternative is to slip your fingers out of the gloves and ball your hands up inside those gloves to create warmth.  Pfft was what I said to that last suggestion.

But … I was game for such an experiment, and Friday morning I did just that.  I left on the gloves with their liners, but slid my fingers out and kept each hand into a tight fist … then I walked, and walked … eight times around the perimeter of the Memorial Park parking lot and the round trip there and back.  By the time I got home, my hands were as toasty as when I donned my gloves before I stepped outside.

So this begs the question … “is that why we all wore mittens as kids … so we could play outside longer and thus stay out of our parents’ hair for a while?”

This morning, I went into the cedar closet, way in the back, and retrieved the polar fleece hat and mitts that I’ve had stored there for years.  It was an impetuous purchase  at Hudson’s … a cherry-red cloche hat and oversized mitts, which I thought would look jazz up a boring navy coat, but, when I still worked on site, I preferred my long hair to look less “smooshed” when I arrived at work, so I always wore a roomy, knitted cap instead.  This hat and mitten set sank to the back of the high shelf in the cedar closet all these years.

I slipped those big mittens on and suddenly  I felt like I was five years old again and all I needed was a scarf to be wrapped over my mouth and to pull on my brown, over-the-shoe boots, to complete the ensemble.

I went outside to try this second experiment.   Wow!  It felt almost balmy after this wintry week of weather.  I shoveled, then walked around my neighborhood, plus three times around the entire Memorial Park from Fort Street to Electric Avenue .  Because a light layer of snow had fallen and most people had not shoveled their walks, I stayed on the sidewalks and had zero slip-or-sliding issues.  I was outside for over two hours, and my fingers were still toasty warm plus I packed 4 ½ miles onto my total miles to date.  I now have just 4 ½ more miles to go.  I’m thrilled to be at this point … you are too, I’m sure, as you won’t have to hear about it much longer.  🙂

So, you learn something new every day.  Who knew all these decades later, I’d be so smitten with  mittens?

[Image of mittens from Jill111 on Pixabay; and Michigan image from Pinterest]

I put the YakTrax away … temporarily anyway, since Winter weather is hardly over yet.

Today was the occasion to finally break out the boots.

Yup, I bought these New Balance hiking boots as a Christmas present to myself back in the Fall of 2015.  They were recommended by McLinden’s, where I always buy my shoes.  Margaret, the owner, is an avid walker, albeit a walker who prefers an indoor track, but she assured me that the heavy treads would be perfect for hiking around anywhere during our Michigan Winters.  Up until today, they’ve been sitting in their box, since the past two Winters have been fairly mild and I was able to use my walking shoes all season.

These boots may not be as trendy as Uggs, but they gave me the ability to roam in the snow and say “ugh” to the white stuff.

Today I instituted Plan “C” … sigh.  It’s all about getting these measly miles walked to reach my goal.  If I get this done, and go above and beyond, well … that’s great, but I must reach the 1,000-miles-walked-in-2017 goal first.

Last weekend it was icy on city sidewalks and streets, so, I opted for walking laps around Memorial Park using YakTrax and called that effort Plan “B” and walking on the snowy grass worked well, that is, until we got seven inches of fresh snow on Wednesday.  All that snow would be too high to be walking through, though it might be a great workout.  So, even though it was frigid this morning, there was no fresh snow, so I knew a walk was in order.

Thus, I had to institute Plan “C” wherein I decided to walk around the parking lot at Memorial Park, which I knew would be plowed since it is adjacent to the Senior Center, as well as Fantasyland, our City’s annual animated Christmas display.  So, that was my option this morning.  The roundtrip steps to the parking lot from home equaled one mile and each lap around the plowed parking lot was ¼ mile.

So eight trips around the parking lot and Bandshell area yielded two miles, and, believe me, this was a tedious and rather boring route, but, there I was, tromping along, getting the steps done in my dogged pursuit of “the cause” and I happy to be able to do it.

Another inch or so of snow in the overnight might impede my progress tomorrow, but, since it is the weekend, I can more easily adjust my schedule and leave later if necessary.  The good news is we’re getting temps in the 40s the beginning of the week – just maybe the snow on the sidewalks, and maybe even the perimeter path at Council Point Park, will vanish.  I would be ecstatic, especially if I could finish up my 1,000 miles at my favorite nature nook.

[Image of New Balance Women’s Hiking Boots, Style 1400v1 from NewBalance.com]

Whittling down those remaining steps needed to achieve my goal of 1,000 miles walked in 2017, sure has been tough this past week.  What looked like an easy goal and a cinch to complete just a few weeks ago, has turned into walking sessions done in dribs and drabs.  These days my miles have been garnered by slogging around makeshift laps on the snowy grass at Memorial Park.  I still have 12 more miles left to reach that lofty goal.

Unfortunately, the prospect of walking over the next few days isn’t so great either.  Right now it is snowing everywhere in metropolitan Detroit, at the rate of one inch per hour, and the landscape is already blanketed by soft and fluffy snow.   Schools and universities are shuttered for the day and likely tomorrow.  It seems that every time I’ve heard the weather report, there was more snow in the forecast.  Now, it is up to nine inches, though I don’t think this will be happening in our neck of the woods thankfully.

I got another two miles walked this morning before the Wintry weather arrived though snowflakes were already fluttering down while I was still outside.  Of course, Winter does not officially arrive until December 21^st … but don’t tell Mother Nature that.  While dashing through the snow in a one-horse open sleigh may sound magical this time of year, the commute home for most drivers has been tedious and daunting, and I’m sure they’d trade their vehicle for a horse and sleigh in a country meadow in a heartbeat.

The world outside these four walls now resembles a snow globe – pretty to look at, and I, as well as many others, would love to be able to shake it madly, turn it right-side up after watching the flakes drift down and have it all go away.

[Image by Tyle Rullery from Pixabay]

“When snow falls, nature listens.”  ~ Antoinette van Kleeff

Correction:  when snow falls, EVERYONE takes notice!  Mother Nature shook up her extra-large snow globe last week in some of the southern states – unbelievably, Texas and Alabama got slammed with a lot of snow.  Today it is our turn here in Southeast Michigan.

There is nothing more beautiful than the first snow of the season, especially if you’re inside looking out the window at a scene that resembles a Currier and Ives print.  Of course, that idyllic setting loses some of its charm once you get out and have to drive in it, or shovel it.  Grrr!

Right now, as I’m writing this blog post, the snow is softly falling, tiny crystalline pellets twinkling down, lighting up the night, and, by tomorrow morning, three to four inches of fresh snow will have been deposited.

But, we also had some snow early Saturday morning, which was not so nice.  That’s because it was “nuisance snow” – not enough to sweep or shovel,  nor was it “packing snow” to make snowballs or snowmen, nor was it soft and fluffy enough to make snow angels.

I stepped out the door early Saturday morning and knew right away I’d be skipping my trek to Council Point Park since the wet flurries were flying in earnest, though they weren’t really sticking.

Sunday morning was a whole different story.  Part of Saturday’s flurries must’ve contained some freezing rain or ice pellets, because all the cement was ice covered and slick as glass.  No wonder there were so many “fender benders” on the traffic report.  So, who knows what’s in store for the rest of December, and, with me still desiring to get 1,000 miles walked this year, I shut the door and headed downstairs to dig out the YakTrax Pro Ice Grips and to implement Plan “B” to get some steps done.

If you’ve never seen YakTrax, they are lightweight, spring-like devices you strap right onto each shoe or boot.  YakTrax will help you gain traction while walking, or even running.  I strapped them on and headed outside.  There was a little snow to be swept, and then, taking a series of baby steps, I crossed the street and headed to Memorial Park.  This is a park that encompasses three city blocks, and, the only cement is the pathway that winds through the memorial pavilion area and the Bandshell entertainment area.  The rest of this park is grassy, just perfect for walking in the snow.  Sure it lacks the ambiance of Council Point Park, but, at this venue there is no chance of wiping out on the black ice that often is present on the perimeter path.

So, Plan “B” racked up three miles yesterday, and another two miles this morning just from tromping around the entire park several times.  I probably could have removed the grippers once I landed in the safe haven of the grassy portion, where grass blades were merely glazed with frozen crystals, but I left them on to risk taking a tumble.

Thankfully, salting and plowing will make the roads safe again, just as shoveling the driveway and sidewalks likely will remove all traces of that pesky ice from homeowners’ properties.  By mid-week, I’ll plot my next trek, so those steps will help get me some additional miles to add to my final tally.

It was a day tailor-made for Frosty the Snowman … in fact, just like Frosty, I felt like I might melt away once I stepped into the warm house.

But, despite the morning’s bone-chilling temperature, it was dry and without snow, so I was lucky to tack on five more miles toward my ultimate goal.

I took the car for a spin due to the cold, so I arrived earlier than usual at Council Point Park.  There were no walkers around … no cars in the parking lot, not a single soul on the perimeter path.  So, it was just me and my thoughts, and, oh yes … about a dozen squirrels.

My furry friends came running over to me as soon as I neared the pavilion area like we were long-lost fiends.  I said “guys, it’s only been one day … what will you do when snows covers the path and Linda disappears for a while?”

But, whether they love me for myself, or just the two Ziploc bags of peanuts that they spied poking out each pocket of my puffy parka, they surrounded me in a heartbeat as they waited for treats.  Who could resist all that adoration?

The asphalt path was outlined in snow on both loops, and likewise, the water’s edge of the Ecorse Creek still had minute traces of snow from yesterday’s flurries.  In some places, a thin coating of ice had formed on the Creek surface, but in other places, the mallards paddled along freely and there was no ice.

It sure was blustery, despite all the precautions I’d taken by adding multiple layers, but, after all the air temperature was 19 and the wind chill was in the single digits when I left the house.

There had been a horrible apartment fire about a mile away and the flames were finally doused at 7:00 a.m.  I’d seen photos of the raging fire online before I left on my walk and figured the air would still be filled with a choking smoky smell, but it was perfectly fine.

After my five-mile trek, as I was walking back to my car, I recognized a couple of cars whose drivers were regular walkers – they were just pulling into the lot.  Then I saw Parker, who appeared out of nowhere (beneath the car perhaps?), so I turned the Ziploc bag inside out and he got the rest of the peanuts, all spread out at his feet, like he was a little prince.  It was quite the booty, and those peanuts were paired with his benefactor’s advice, mumbled through frozen lips, to “be smart little buddy and squirrel some away because the snow is on the way.”

[Image is a painting entitled “Wish Upon a Star” by Cheryl Lynn Miller]

This morning I was eating breakfast and decided I had better dig out the snow boots and boot tray and have the shovel ready for Saturday morning.  That was in the 5:00 o’clock hour.  My thoughts were prophetic, because just a few hours later, I ended up doing all three tasks when snow suddenly appeared on the scene.  Usually, the snow hits the northern ‘burbs first, but this time Detroit and Downriver were right in the bulls eye.

I peered out the door and snow had whitened the cement, but not the grass, though sparkling ice crystals had dusted the still-green leaves of bushes and trees.   It sure wasn’t going to melt (or so I thought) with an air temperature of 29 degrees and a real feel of 21degrees.

So much for my morning walk!  Of course I was bummed out because I have a measly 24 miles left to reach 1,000 miles walked this year … so 24 miles, and 24 days to accomplish reaching my goal.  I’ll try not to clutch and have too much angst over this, and, besides … I am prepared to resort to Plan “B” and walk at one of the other parks near my house, in the snow, in my boots, if need be.  Hopefully tomorrow’s walk is a “go” because measurable snow is predicted for Saturday and Monday, which will surely mess up the Park’s perimeter path since the City does not clear it.

As for this morning’s snow … well, I swept it, and before I was halfway done with the driveway, it was covered in snow again as those big flakes were flying fast and furiously.  But, two hours after removing my boots, peeling off all those layers and sipping a cup of coffee, I looked outside and was surprised to see the snow miraculously had vanished.  It didn’t melt, so did it just blow away?  Of course, I was tempted to head outside and go for a walk then, but my boss is on vacation, and I’m virtually “minding the store.”

Some people embrace the arrival of snow during this most magical time of the year, but I think that Winter, which officially arrives two weeks from today, might have just stopped by to show Fall who is really the boss.

This sure was a long day without my morning walk, or even venturing outside for that matter.  The day has seemed to go on forever, partly because my boss jetted off to warm and sunny Phoenix, Arizona early this morning and this ugly weather day kept me hunkered down in the house, putting a kibosh on my walk.  Although it was clear at the time I usually leave, the winds were gusting between 30 and 35 miles per hour, so I decided to forego a walk today.  I was not in the mood to lose my hat, nor go scurrying after it, as it tumbled along the perimeter path several paces ahead of me.

The last very windy day when my freshly dry-cleaned wool cap went airborne and I had to scramble into the street to retrieve it, the minute I walked into the house, I went to the cabinet downstairs, where all my hair accessories are stored.  Back in the day, I was very organized about my accessories, and my hair ornaments and doodads were no different.  I still have them all stacked in pristine clear shoe boxes, with labels according to what type of hair accessory they are.  So, I pawed through a few boxes, looking for stray bobby pins for the next windy day at the Park, but they were nowhere to be found.  The grocery store doesn’t carry bobby pins either – in fact, I’ll bet a good portion of my readers are now wondering “what the heck is a bobby pin anyway?”

I used to do my long hair in a French twist or French braid and often used bobby pins to secure that ‘do in place, so I just assumed I still had some large bobby pins from those days.

Bobby pins and curlers and similar girly hair paraphernalia from the past are considered passé now.

I can remember at sleepovers at my grandmother’s house, I’d watch her putting her hair into pin curls every night before going to bed.  She didn’t even need a mirror.  Nanny would quickly spritz her hair with a setting lotion to dampen it,  then taking tiny tufts of hair, she’d deftly form a loop of hair and crisscross it with small bobby pins.  I’d laugh at her as she would have metal “Xs” all over her head.  Then she’d secure those pin curls by donning an oversized pink hairnet which she tied tight into a bow on top of her head.  As I watched this process intently, she would say “Linda, you have to do these things to look pretty when you’re all grown up; you won’t always be wearing a ponytail and a ribbon you know.”

Nanny was wise, because a few years later, my mom decided that my stick-straight hair and ponytail were okay for every day, but special occasions warranted big-curl girls, so she bought some bobby pins and put my hair into pin curls sometimes.  When I see those old pictures, they make me cringe, and, I really have to wonder where she saw an improvement?  My hair was a little lopsided – oh yes it was!  Plus, I looked about fifty years older than my real age!

Oh Mom, how could you?

The things you remember sometimes when your mind starts to drift a little …

Like today, when I couldn’t go on a walk, and was up at the crack of dawn just in case that predicted rain and wind didn’t happen.  It sure was tempting to crawl back into bed, but I decided to do the Christmas cards instead.  I had a few letters to write with the cards for my mom’s friends who are in their 90s and not online.  So, that was my morning project.

While writing out the cards, I recalled my mom doing the family Christmas cards and that was when I did my letter to Santa back in the day.  I had already perused and dog-eared the Eaton’s Christmas Catalog which used to arrive mid-November in conjunction with the Santa Claus parade in downtown Toronto.  I’d pick out my favorite items and Mom would help me get the letter to Santa done to be mailed out with the family Christmas cards.

I heard a story on the radio the other day that now kids text their Christmas wish lists to Santa instead of writing a letter to the Big Guy.  How sad … that was a fun part of the holiday season when I was growing up.  I even remember getting a personal letter from Santa from the North Pole as Christmas neared.  I wonder if that nicety is still available for parents to do for their kids?

When we first moved to the States, at the old post office, which now functions as the City’s Historical Museum, every December there was a tall mailbox emblazoned with the words “Letters for Santa” outside the main entrance.  There was always a queue of children dropping off their respective wish lists, while their parents, with their car motors running, lined up along Southfield Road, while patiently waiting for their kids to zip off their letters in the hope that Santa would indulge their fantasy.

Those were such simple times, sipping hot chocolate and dunking gingerbread men into that delicious frothy drink, while carefully composing a letter to Santa describing which dolly and accessories would be the perfect present for me that year.  One year I was feeling bold and sassy and asked for a pretty pram to push that dolly along Sandmere Place.  In this picture, circa early 1960s, it appears Santa indulged me.  I remember my baby doll Thumbelina with her big pink button on her back, a magical button that brought her to life, and her head swiveled ever so slowly while I cradled her in my arms.  Even her pliable body wiggled a little and she gave a whimper while moving, until the button slowly wound down.  All the little girls had to have a Thumbelina.  I remember this pram which was beige and brown and I was pretty darn excited with those presents.

Perhaps Santa should have brought my father some photography lessons since he got most of the doll carriage in the picture, but Linda and Thumbelina are way over in the corner.

My legs and feet got a rest from the perimeter path and I got a break from the work routine today, but my mind was working overtime; it was busy churning up some warm memories from years gone by.