Quebec was an optimistic place shortly before the holidays – before Covid-19 infection rates exploded after the Omicron variant made a triumphant appearance during its blockbuster world tour. As I hopped a plane to Chibougamau in late December, the warning signs were more like huge billboards of flashing neon advertising that our recently recovered freedoms were about to disappear once again.
Koon is the Cree word for snow. It is a natural phenomenon that covers our northern world every winter and it is a very important part of life.
The year 2021 was as disastrous as could be expected given the fact that we are heading into a third year of the pandemic. After reeling from the first vaccination, then the second one and yet a third one, we now have three-quarters protection. Sounds like the Canadian dollar – three US quarters for a Canuck buck.
I feel like I jumped on a bandwagon. After almost two years of avoiding Covid, following the rules, getting vaccinated twice and chomping at the bit for a third dose... I joined the mob by getting sick a week before Christmas.
I’ve lost a few shovels since last winter. Having to buy new ones for this winter is a hassle, but it’s worse when you have none and wait for days to be rescued by the heavy equipment operators, who seem to be working day and night lately.
Quebec Premier François Legault’s press conference December 22 was an exercise in hubris and futility. When political leaders command the airwaves at 6 pm, cutting into supper-hour news programs, it is because they have something major to announce.
Christmas was always a season of chaos and confusion for me as a child. It was a strange mix of excitement and joy along with feelings of anxiety and worry.
Rejoicing, I emerge from the latest storm of the season, a little colder and shakier thanks to the minus 20-degree temperatures. These early days of winter tend to lash out and grab your inner soul, chilling it to the core. That’s when the shivering sets in, and your body responds with chattering teeth and a sniffling nose.
We really don’t have too many instances of chestnuts roasting on an open fire (I do mine in the oven) nor the sound of sleigh bells ringing unless you brought some and hung them up on the door to announce the arrival of guests and Santa. These days Santa has to use the door as not many of us have a chimney.
I met an old friend, someone who brought me back to the pre-adolescence years when our Cree culture teachers taught us a lot of different things that we needed to know to stay alive.
