Tag: Daylight Savings Time

Posted on in holidays, humour

Dear Santa: My 2024 Christmas Wish List

Dog and Christmas arrangement

Dear Santa: A few years ago I wrote you a letter with a special Christmas list. I know your elves have been working hard on some of the items, like longer ranges for EV vehicles, but it’s been awhile, so I thought I would send you a new list. Here it is:

  • Ask retailers to go back to making the old Christmas lights where you only had to replace one bulb in a strand when it went out, instead of having to buy a whole new strand
  • Just once for Bentley to not bark to come in the minute after I sit down
  • Get rid of Daylight Savings Time once and for all so it’s light until at least 5 o’clock at night
  • Make the NFL go back to the old kicking rules. Whatever deranged Grinch came up with the idea of notifying the other team in advance of an onside kick should have coal put in his stocking, and watching teams line up like tin soldiers waiting for the receiver to catch the ball during kick-offs is like listening to Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas album on replay
  • Bring the price of bacon and hot dogs back below $8 so we can eat meat again
  • And end to the Canada Post strike–oh wait, I forgot, no one cares
  • Put the CEO of Ticketmaster on your naughty list for making it easy for people to steal your ticket by transferring it and forcing people to use their app instead of just downloading tickets to your phone
  • Reclaim the 407 so anyone can drive on it for free and reduce the ridiculous congestion on the 401
  • Get the elves at Costco to stop with all the excess packaging

Oh yeah, and of course, peace in the Middle East, an end to the war in the Ukraine, and a cure for f**in cancer.

And if you can’t grant me any of those wishes, I’ll take a Toblerone and bottle of Cabot Maple Cream.

Happy Christmas!

Sincerely, Laurie.

Posted on in inspiration

The gift of time

watch wrapped up as a giftTime is a precious commodity. This weekend, we will receive a rare and special gift: an extra hour in our busy lives.

Here are ten things I never seem to have time for that you can do with your extra 60 minutes from Daylight Savings Time:

  1. Get a head start on your holiday shopping. Adidas and Reebok outlets are featuring 40% off everything in the store this weekend as part of their friends and family event and Indigo has a special 25% promotion on
  2. Go for a long walk in the woods before deer hunting season starts
  3. Sort the stray socks on your dryer and see if you can find a match
  4. Make a prediction for Tuesday night’s U.S. election. Check out sites like oddssharkcom and Paddypower.com, both predicting a 75-90% chance of a Clinton victory
  5. Clean out your pantry or medicine cabinet
  6. Linger with family or friends after a meal over a bottle of wine
  7. Give yourself a manicure or pedicure
  8. Change the batteries in your smoke alarms and check your carbon monoxide detectors.
  9. Start the project you keep saying you’ll start but never have time for
  10. Sleep in

Guess which one I’ll be doing? So much for best intentions. What will you do with your extra hour? Leave a comment.

Posted on in Uncategorized

Roamin’ in the gloamin

Sun shimmering through trees
The gorgeous light of the gloamin

It’s fall, my favourite season. For me, the first days of fall are as bitter sweet as the orange-berried vine that grows in our fields this time of year. I am reluctant to bid summer adieu, but embrace the crisp days and cool nights and sweet smells of fresh apples and wood smoke in the air.

This is when I start counting down the days and hours before daylight savings time. I get home quite late, so I often only have an hour at home after work before it gets dark. This is my time to go roamin’ in the gloamin.

There is something very special about the light at this time of year in the evening–the way it shimmers and casts a soft glow over the landscape. It’s magical.

This week’s #Happy Act is to go roamin’ in the gloamin’. Having a lad or lassie by your side is optional (I usually just have my two big dopey dogs by my side).

About the song

I always thought Roamin’ in the Gloamin was an old Scottish folk song, but it was actually written in 1911 by Sir Harry Lauder. The song tells of a man and his sweetheart courting in the evening. Here are the words of the chorus:

“Roamin’ in the gloamin’ on the bonnie banks o’ Clyde.
Roamin’ in the gloamin’ wae my lassie by my side.
When the sun has gone to rest,
That’s the time we love the best.
O, it’s lovely roamin’ in the gloamin”

Dog in wooded path
Roamin’ in the gloamin with Murphy by my side