A White Christmas

Very light snow has been falling since the small hours on this overcast day, so rather to my surprise we have a white Christmas. It has covered the green grass of the little park below my north windows and the rooftops below the west windows. If the 7-day forecast is accurate, this light coating of snow may stay there until at least New Year. Until now the mild weather has fooled some migratory birds including Canada geese that have been able to gorge on fallow corn fields that are normally snow covered by this time of year; perhaps now the geese will belatedly head south. I am comforted by the thought that the shortest day is behind us now, and I can look forward to longer days, imperceptibly to begin with but soon the sun will shine again into my north windows, no doubt lifting my spirits further even though it will mean I must tilt the Venetian blinds to reduce the sun's impact on coloured fabric and the spines of my books. 

I took Rebecca and Richard, and Jonathan,  to a Christmas Day dinner at the Lord Elgin Hotel. I remember an elegant, well-appointed restaurant in that hotel, light and airy, with a very good table and excellent wines. It was one of Ottawa's top quality eating places in former times. Now, alas, like several other hotel restaurants, it's fallen on sad days indeed, just a rather grotty greasy spoon sort of place with a special set price menu for Christmas Day. The "home made" butternut squash soup was acceptable, but the meal went downhill after that. The plate on which my roast turkey, gravy and vegetables arrived, was hotter than the almost cold meal which all tasted as if cooked some days if not weeks earlier, and the banana fritters that rounded off our lunch were ice cold, not even re-heated. At least I had a glass of Canadian bubbly white wine to wash my meal down; none of the others had any alcohol to soften the impact.  I'll know better next time, will reserve a table at the Chateau Laurier well ahead of Christmas Day. These days the Chateau may be the only place in Ottawa that still serves a special Christmas Day feast.

It's no longer the season of peace and goodwill, if indeed it ever was. Today it was an extremist Islamic  sect in Nigeria that chose to demonstrate its ill will towards mankind, rather than one of the Middle Eastern or South Asian hate groups. We humans just don't seem able to get along in harmony with one another. What  an unhappy world it is!