Here it is, a brand-new year. Where did the old one go? It seems to me I said the same thing just a few weeks ago!

Sorry about missing last week - my intentions were good, but my computer died. Without it, I am a mere shadow of a man.

Some winter! One day, I think it was Tuesday, the temperature got up to +4, and it hovered around the freezing point (or thawing point) most of the week. Lots of sunshine, and very little wind made for pretty pleasant weather. Right now, it's overcast, about –4·, calm, and the odd tiny little flake coming down. The odd tiny little flake just doesn't satisfy when one is dreaming of a three day blizzard and three feet of snow!

I spoke to Shirley Baker of Annaheim the other day; she is a member of the Naicam XC Ski Club, which hosts the annual Greenwater Ski Loppet. She had been talking to the Park, asking about snow conditions, and they told her the trails had been packed but that there wasn't enough snow to set the track. I gather we have more snow than just about anywhere else in the province, but that's not much. She says the Ski Loppet will go ahead as planned, on the 26th of January, hoping for at least a bit more snow. That event brings up to 150 people to the Park. There hasn't been a bit of snow since I talked to Shirley, but there is still two weeks to go.

A few years ago when they were here, Shirley took some photos of the round table coffee crowd and she sent them to me. After I scan them, I will take them to the Cove and pin them up on their bulletin board.

Again I have to report the passing of some friends. Flo Beaton died over the Christmas season. When we moved here in 1980, Flo and Tom ran the famous Kelvington Hardware. After Tom died, their son, Eric, took over the store and Flo moved up here to the Park. She lived three doors east of us. It was Flo who got me interested in the High Tor settlers, and gave me guidance in my writing. (If you think my grammar is bad now, you should have seen it before!)

Jim Swanson, of Tisdale, also died. We first got to know Jim and Vicki when they brought some photos to be framed. Jim has been taking pictures since the '30s, and was a charter member of Parkland Photography Club, in the late '80s. Because of his health, he hasn't attended meetings for some years, but was always interested in Club activities.

Our sincere condolences to the Beatons and the Swansons.

George Renneberg tells me some jacks are being caught, but the pickerel are pretty elusive. Shirley and Merv Miller have been out several times; one day they may catch lots of perch, the next day none at all in the same hole. Merv figures if you are lucky enough to have a school of perch swim by under your fishing hole, you have a chance of catching some, otherwise not.

Angie Boen had a close call. A week ago last Friday, about eleven o'clock in the evening, she was on her way back to Kelvington after working at the Cove. It was snowing a bit and she had her lights on low beam. Just about at Dawn Kowalchuk's place, two miles south of here, a moose came out onto the road and she couldn't avoid it. When she hit it, it flopped onto the hood and windshield and they took off through the ditch into the bushes. The moose was killed, the car totaled, and Angie got off with a cut on her lip and some aches and pains for a few days. If she had been going a touch faster, or if the moose had been a bit bigger, it could have been a different outcome.

We went to the Cove for supper last night. It was their first "Ethnic Night", and they served Italian food. There were four kinds of pasta, four kinds of sauces, and Italian bread and dip – all you could eat. Also, a frozen dessert that was a real killer! I understand they are going to have an "Ethnic Night" the second Saturday of each month. I can hardly wait until Mexican night!