brrr....

Hah! I am (almost) a true Northerner now that I have actually seen my first moose. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me to capture this life-altering moment. There he was, with racks as wide as I am tall, standing majestically by the side of the road. I could see the vapours of his breath, that's how close we were. I would have to say they are pretty handsome creatures. But, you know how the Canadian quarter portays a moose on it and those engravers must be talented because it does capture the lazy, lolling walk that a moose has... On second thought though, I probably will only be a true Northerner when I don't get so excited at the sight of a moose.

I know the good people who actually live in the North, as in Whitehorse, YK, are feeling the cold at -51 today with the wind chill. So technically, with Houston at only a -22, I shouldn't be complaining. Apparently the people up here have been praying for days of this kind of cold and colder so that the pine beetle will be killed and stop ravaging the province's forests. One of the reasons why the bug has spread so much is that the winters up here have been warmer than usual the past couple of years and enabling the bug to live. My coworker says this cold weather might be cold enough to kill it and she's excited about it. What a change it will be for people and communities up here, who are scrambling (with limited gov't help) to try a figure out a future for the North, a future that isn't based on forestry.

Anyways, I'm not the expert on this topic. All I know is that it's COLD...

Last night M and I set up our Christmas tree - our first one as a married couple! We were quite excited. We have some Christmas items, but so far there are only lights and garlands on our tree. I'll have to hit the Home Hardware on the way home from work to pick up some ornaments. For some reason I have a lot of gold going on and I'm not sure if that was intentional (or I don't remember if it was). M's not so fond of it... but it gives the room a cheery glow. Koko is not afraid of the tree, but seems to like biting the lower branches. Hmmm... I'll have to cure her of that...