First Day of Winter

I awoke this morning to a typical winter morning with my car coated in ice. Hard as it may be for some people to appreciate I was quite happy to finally have winter arrive here in this part of southern Ontario. Much of the rest of Canada has been caught up in the grip of winter for quite some time but we have enjoyed warmer days with sunshine and temperatures that had yet to dip below freezing during the daytime hours.

Both Christmas and New Years were warm enough that you could have been on a patio. I don't enjoy a green Christmas and I would have loved to go skiing during the holiday week. In fact the ski areas north of the city have not really been in operation yet this year so I am sure that they finally breathed a sign of relief this morning. Today weather report calls for below freezing temperatures for the entire week. Now we just need some snow to go with the cooler temperature then we will be off to the north to throw ourselves down some beautiful slopes.

Last Saturday morning when I picked up Mike, my son, he announced as soon as he was seated in the car that we were going downtown, he really wanted a peameal on a bun. He feels as I do that living in Woodbridge just isn't the same as being in the core of the city. We just can't get excited about being stuck in the endless residential maze broken only by strip malls and discount centres. I know that if I spoke Italian I may be invited into some the private Italian clubs but I don't and as a consequence I feel isolated up here. So last Saturday we made our way downtown wandering around the St. Lawrence Market.

For those of you who may not be Canadian and no idea about what this peameal stuff is that was the source of my son's craving, let me explain. Here in Canada they produce a form of back bacon or cured loin of pork which is rolled in a dried meal of ground yellow peas. Now In know that doesn't sound too appetizing but I assure you that sliced and properly cooked it is flavourful and moist, and when it is piled high and served on a freshly baked kaiser roll it can be heavenly. There, hidden away in the corner of the market, is a small cafe where they have been serving these wonderful peameal sandwiches for many years, I personally can only vouch for the last twenty five years during which I have been occasionally enjoying these treats.

With Mike's encouragement we enjoyed spending most of the day wandering around the market. We came home with vegetables and a little meat and Mike chose some mussels and wonder fresh fillet of Grooper for our supper. Mike has grown up with spending many Saturdays exploring the market and learning to appreciate the world of food it offers. I love the image that the market offers of the cultural diversity of this city; the smells, the noise the range of languages just the beautiful colour of life. This is only one example, and we have many here in Toronto with little enclaves, which may only last for a few blocks, but present the cultural heritage and identity of the countries of origin with which many people identify. I am pleased and proud that we have these differences and that they exist side and side in peace and harmony.

Mike has grown up experiencing these snippets of other cultures as I dragged him around the city and through that exposure I think he has grown to appreciate their differences and the similarities. I am proud to say that I have never seen any signs with him of prejudice or bigotry and I hope that he maintains that openness throughout his life.