Well, since you’re currently reading this post, you too have survived the most recent end of the world-apocalyptic prediction. Yup, those Mayans were sure on the ball; maybe they were procrastinators and ran out of time (ha-ha) to finish their calendar? Could be a plausible explanation. Not like anyone else has ever put things off until the last minute and turned out a crappy final product. So there, the Mayans were not wrong, they were just lazy…the world according to Dave!

Anyway, it is the night before Christmas and the house is finally quiet. I guess it could be worse as I could have been at work today. Yes, I am officially on holidays, though the craziness of the last few days doesn’t make it seem like it. I was very glad when Friday rolled around last week as it meant the end of a very long haul that started in September. It is typically a very fun day for obvious reasons; we teachers probably like it more than the kids!

In the last number of years it has become tradition for me to cook pancakes for my period one class to reward them for their efforts with the city Christmas cheer campaign. Although it is a bit of work on my part, I know they appreciate it (I normally make pancakes from scratch, but that’s not possible in this case). Hopefully I can keep this up for the next 15 years!

Now the only black spot on that day was another food related incident with my Grade 12’s. They got me again! As we prepared to leave the class for the annual Christmas assembly, one my students casually offered me a jelly bean. I really had to try it. I thought, “It’s a jelly bean, it can’t be that bad!” As I bit into it, I was immediately greeted by the taste of…orange. Perfect right? Unfortunately that was suddenly replaced by a searing sensation on my tongue. I had just eaten an Ass Kickin’ jelly bean, wonderfully flavoured with habanero peppers. My God! Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice…

So as I’ve already mentioned, the last few days have been a bit hectic, but since tomorrow is Christmas, I’m hoping that things will slow down in a few days. Today we had the family over for dinner and of course it was non-stop excitement. My wonderfully wife did a big chunk of the heavy lifting so it could have been worse for me. The boys are tucked in for the night and Santa is on his way. Time to relax a bit!

Once things settle down, I hope to spend time working on some railway stuff. I’ve decided to put the Historical Society on the back-burner for a week or two so I can get to a few things that I’ve neglected for a while. One of my principle tasks is to get some writing done on the Leeblain article.

I did spend quite a bit of time last night working on it last night. It actually felt really good to immerse myself into some research and writing again. Leeblain is one of those great what if’s in the story of the railway. Over the last few years I’ve spent quite a bit of time there and I often find myself looking around trying to envision what that spot would have looked like had the railway succeeded and the town grown into the metropolis that it was supposed to be. Certainly it would have transformed the Gunflint Lake area.

Tonight I read my son Ethan the “Polar Express” as his bedtime story. I wrote about this topic a year ago and I can remember my words regarding trains rolling along the line in winter. Tonight my thoughts were of Leeblain, and what it would have looked like nearly 120 years ago. What was Christmas like there in 1893? The optimism for great things must have been palpable. The experience of celebrating this event at a station/hotel in such a remote location must have been memorable, although if it was as cold as it is right now (-22C with the wind) it would not have been very toasty.

Leeblain, August 2012.

Anyway, I’m pretty pooped so I think it’s time to wrap it up. Big day tomorrow…can’t wait to see what Santa brought me! More great thoughts next week. Until then…Merry Christmas!