I’ve always wondered what Boxing Day was; I had to turn to our friends at Google for the answer. I guess the traditional meaning has long since gone as I certainly don’t have any servants! For those of you not in Canada and unfamiliar with the holiday, Boxing Day is our version of Black Friday. People get up at ridiculous hours to stand in line (apparently the line at Futureshop was 1000+) and try to get some good deals. I hate crowds, especially for shopping, so I never partake in the event. Besides, I’m on vacation and as much of a morning person I am, getting up at some obscene hour to go shopping is not in my plans. However, I may have picked something up during the Christmas Eve online sale, but I won’t spill the beans until it gets here!

I certainly had a good Christmas, though it seems that the day goes by ever more quickly the older I get. Thankfully I did not emerge as bloated and stuffed this year as I normally do, which is perfect for my future diet 🙂 As a parent though, I think that Christmas is more about my kids’ enjoyment. My boys certainly had a great day as Santa brought the Lego they were looking for; the Millennium Falcon for Ethan and Plo Koon’s Starfighter for Noah. There were lots of other presents as well, so they (and dad) have been kept busy playing and building Lego sets. You don’t realize how long it takes it assemble a 1200 piece Coreillan freighter!

Since Christmas has now passed, and today is drawing to a close, it makes me reflect a bit on the next event. Tomorrow is my birthday; it’s funny how when I was younger I was so anxious for the day to arrive and now it’s become such an anti-climactic thing. I suppose that in my less follicly challenged days it was about catching up to my friends, but now it just reminds me that I’m drawing another year closer to 40. However, I must say that I don’t dwell on this or feel old. As my wife’s “boyfriend” Jon Bon would say, I’m “not old, just older!”

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have been taking a bit of a break from railway related matters. Last week I did finish reading the Ole Paulson book, which turned up some really good information. There was also some interesting material on Ole’s emigration from Norway and his experiences in Minnesota. Anyway, although it would not hold up in court, I think I’ve been able to fill in all the pieces of John Paulson’s life. I’ll get back into some research in a few days once things settle down. Next week I’m hoping to get together with Lee in Duluth and then I will be able to resume working on the article.

Until next time.