Merry Christmas! I’m writing this in the early hours of Christmas morning. Christmas eve at our house contained the same traditions as in the past, save for card games and trivia. We chatted about the year, about what we were looking forward to next year, and about the shapes and sizes of the presents under the tree.
A lifestyle altered at 60 is an inconvenience, one rearranged in early 20’s is more invasive. We have two kids who are restless, so much of their lives take place naturally outside these walls.
That beautiful vaccine can’t get here quickly enough.
We’re Canadian. We’ll wait our turn. We’ll arrive at the clinic (or school) at the correct time, take the vaccine and be thankful for the good women and men who created this gift to the world.
I think that’s everyone’s big gift this year. Good luck competing with a vaccine that gets us back to our old lifestyles. If you or don’t plan on taking the vaccine, if we can get 70+ percent to take it then society should be able to return to something that resembles normal.
Christmas Gifts
I grew up Jehovah’s Witness. We did not exchange gifts. The first Christmas gift I ever received was at 19. That’s not the same as saying my childhood was bad or my parents were evil. In fact, I was gifted with two wonderful parents.
The religion does impact your world view though, especially when you’re born into it. I’ve been different from anyone else in every room I’ve entered since childhood. It took me years to accept this fact and just be myself.
I can’t explain why, or how, but the world view of a child born into the religion is simply different than the norm. I explain this not for sympathy or to rile a faith filled with good people, but rather to offer context for my favourite gift as a child.
TABLE HOCKEY!
One of the gifts I received as a result of my childhood was an enormous imagination. I could do a weekend series between the Cincinnati Reds and the Montreal Expos in 1970 in my mind–actually did it during the Jehovah’s Witness Assembly in the summer of that year. While the man on stage was saying “make do until 1972” (the world would be ending in two years-ish) I was asking Boots Day to bunt Bobby Wine over to third base so Bob Bailey could drive him in.
I loved Bobby Orr and the Bruins, and 1970 was the year they won the Stanley Cup. My dream was to have a table hockey game so I could play entire seasons, and there were table hockey games with all the teams (the men looked like this) meaning you could conceivably play an entire season and keep track of the standings.
I wanted that game. My Mom and Dad were not wealthy folks and we did not celebrate Christmas. So, it came as a complete shock to me when, in mid-December of 1970, my parents gifted me with that table hockey game I had dreamed about for some time. They told me it wasn’t a Christmas present, and that I had to look after it because there wouldn’t be another one. It was the best present young Lowetide ever received.
About a week after I got it, my Dad stepped on the ice coming in to wake me up for school. I was heartbroken that day, but when I got home discovered that the broken cardboard allowed the right defenseman to fire a high shot ala Bobby Orr and the Boston Bruins. I learned to score like a madman with that Orr guy.
My dream table hockey game was now perfect.
Back to modern times
This isn’t the Christmas we planned and there’s no way to know what the future brings. Mrs. Lowetide worked like crazy to make things as normal as possible Christmas eve, and we all fell in line and made the best of it.
I think that’s the deal. Next year, we get the vaccine. For now, we’re in a holding pattern that involves holding on and holding each other.
If you get a chance to make someone’s life better, even if it seems pretty small and insignificant, well that would be a fine thing to do.
There are many things good and bad coming at all of us, your good gesture might make a world of difference in the life of someone you know. The world needs helpers, great and small.
By the way, Boots Day didn’t get the bunt down. The Cincinnati Reds were a damn good team.
Merry Christmas lowtide. Another year past with another A1 Christmas write up
The Blue Jackets seem to have the draft figured out. They shocked everyone by taking Chinakhov 21OV. Lots of comments by draft experts who questioned the pick. Well, he’s looked damned good at the World Juniors, probably the best forward on Russia. And he’s scored 8 goals and 7 assists in 27 games in the KHL – as a 19 year old.
US giving away goals to the Russians – first Sanderson and then Knight with the turnovers.
Wow, Askarov is human – lets in a 50 foot floater with no screen (or not much of a screen).
Mukhamadullin looks like Samorukov stepping up in the neutral zone to lay a big hit – Devils pick that has caught my attention with one play.
Merry Xmas from the Himalayas!
I thought Amirov was much more noticeable than Podkolzin in the exhibition game against Canada (although Podkolzin did make some nice defensive plays). Lets see how they look tonight.
Did you miss the sequence where Podkholzin skated through the entire team and almost scored?
I did not miss the sequence.
Of course, there was an entire hockey game not just one play.
Amirov was the best Russian skater on the 23rd to my eye.
Team Russia only has one right handed shot on their entire team? Even Germany has more than that and they only have like 5 players……
The ’99 WJHC featured a Swedish team that had just one RH shot–Mattias Weinhandl.
(I know it says Kristofferson was a RH shot. But a Google image search shows otherwise.)
3 of my grandkids flew with their parents from Scotland to Madeira on Dec 18 planning to return home via Glasgow Dec 31 to their home north of Edinburgh. Their flight home has been ? canceled with a new suggested departure on Jan 8 ?. Memories being made!
Merry Christmas and/or Seasons Greetings to all.
Merry Christmas to all here. Unfortunately, the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse (whose names all start with a C) visited this year but I will spare you all with the details. All I have left is this…https://youtu.be/H1kQYrGr7e8
Life goes on.
https://youtu.be/o0uiUqjheGQ
‘- Merry Christmas LT: I liked your religious story. While not as religious in my upbringing as yours: our Family attended an Anglican Church: where I was baptized my grandmother married family funerals’ members for generations etc. So always a part of our life
’- One of the passages of life for many Protestants is “Confirmation” : at age 12-14 one “confirms” their relationship with God as they enter manhood. Akin to a Bar Mitzvah.
‘- So I went for the year to Sunday school. Had a great minster: Canon Sewell was his name. Just a prince so kind and full of wisdom. The week before I was to be confirmed I told him that I don’t think I should get confirmed. He asks why?
’- I tell him: well the bibles are nonesense fiction: no one walks on water. The Technology to store all species on a boat didn’t exist, No one raises from the dead, Evolution is real, etc
’- So says to me: “Do you understand the meanings behind these stories, and their messages?” I told him I did, they were good stories. “Well” he says: “That’s Faith”. I said ok “but I don’t have blind faith”.
’- Anyway your story just resonated with me. I think those who did grow up in a church or any religious background do have a different perspective. While I think it’s all fiction developed to control the masses, full of contradictions Amd arbitrary hateful rules that divide rather than unite, there is no doubt that it provides comfort to many.
‘- Anyway Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone.
GOILERS!!!
Happy Isaac Newton Day to you and yours. 😉
So, I woke up this morning to the aroma of fresh baking bread.
(I got up late since Santa stopped at Shelter Point Distillery on the way to our house.)
As a Christmas gift, I bought Mrs. Hair all the things you need to make sourdough bread including a cast iron dutch oven, a proofing basket etc.
But the most fascinating part of the experience was I needed to track down some “sourdough starter” to get the whole process rolling.
Earlier in the week, I went on Facebook Marketplace and found a woman in Qualicum Beach who had some starter for sale for 5 bucks.
As it turns out, she and her husband had moved here from Saskatchewan a few years ago and she brought her starter with her.
The starter had been handed down to her through generations of her family and apparently these starters all have names to differentiate them from others….this one is called “Eustace” and is well over 100 years old.
I find it fascinating that what is essentially a living organism is a multi-generation keepsake for families.
Merry Christmas all!
My wife and I started baking our own bread about six months ago. Something to do together during covid lockdowns but also because I finally got frustrated trying to find decent bread here in Calgary – no matter what ridiculous price they wanted for it.
I like sourdough but my better half doesn’t so we follow an old family recipe handed down several generations on her family side.
The smell coming out of the oven is its own reward.
Thanks for kicking in the memories for me LT. My table hockey game was the old type. Couldn’t slide the players up and down the ice just twist the knobs and shoot that marble about 400 miles an hour. My Canadiens won more than they lost.
we usually have 16-20 family over for Christmas smoked turkey from K&K Foodliner. Best turkey ever and unreal Boxing Day soup. We deliver the meals tomorrow. Wishing everyone and especially you and your family LT a merry Christmas
I too have fond memories of table hockey. The set I got was a hand me down with metal players that I received on a Thanksgiving at my grandmother’s house. It had players for each of the six original teams very similar to those you linked to. The set was well worn by the time it got to me and I have no idea what they used for a puck because it didn’t come with one. We improvised with glass marbles. My God the noise those made when they hit the metal goalie. My favorite side was the Bruins because I liked the uniform colors. Nobody wanted to be the Leafs because you always seemed to lose when you played with them. Good times. Merry Christmas.
Merry Christma and Best Wishes for the Holidays.
Welcome none too soon, 2021. 2020 hindsight Guess the name should have told us.
First table hockey experience as a kid was definitely the 1993 Kings vs Habs setup. Always played as the Kings.
I remember when we upgraded to a copy of Wayne Gretzky table top . It just seemed so much faster.
The one table top I wish I still had was this mini electric one from RadioShack. That thing was amazing.
Merry Christmas everyone
2021 and the vaccine can’t get here fast enough
Merry Christmas to Lowetide & family, and everyone who makes this such a great place to visit! I’ve been loyally following this blog for over 10 years and never made a post before this. Let’s hope that 2021 is a much better year than 2020!!
Merry Christmas, everyone.
New lines for Game 1 with Dach out – per Mark Masters:
Perfetti – McMichael – Krebs
Holloway – Newhook – Cozens
Pelletier – Byfield – Mercer
Zary – Suzuki – Tomasino
Quinn
Thanks for sharing LT.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!
Always preferred table tennis to table hockey.
Me too. Table hockey was fine when I was a wee tyke but table tennis was the goods once I was tall enough.
“If you get a chance to make someone’s life better, even if it seems pretty small and insignificant, well that would be a fine thing to do”
Well LT you did, and it has. Thanks for the daily gift. No small thing either. Take care
Merry Christmas to you LT and your family!…all the best to all who provide such great entertainment here!…Go Oilers in 2021!!!!
Merry Christmas to all! Table hockey was pretty intense on the block we lived on there was even the odd old time hockey scrap lol.
we were so crazy we took an actual full size fooseball table with us on the road in the band we were in playing six nights a week…( we could hold our own against the crowd at the U of A)
And for all the non-Christians out there.
“On this day, a babe was born who would bring light to all the peoples of the world.”
Happy birthday, Isaac Newton! Born December 25, 1642.
“Plato is my friend; Aristotle is my friend, but my greatest friend is truth.”
Not to mention Samuel Patterson Smyth Pollock. But I promise I won’t tell LT if you won’t. 😉
???
Lol, now look at Wiki’s own Dec 25 page, in the Births section.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_25
Just scroll down to 1925…
Only Sam could pull this off.
Very strange and impressive. If you click on his name on that list it takes you to his home page on Wiki that says he was born on Dec. 15.
But, yeah, we shouldn’t tell LT that he was twice born. 😉
EDIT: I see the Canadiens page has his birth day listed as the 25th as well. Wiki is wickedly unreliable.
Merry Xmas Lowetide, Mrs. Lowetide, and all you Lowetidians!
Merry Christmas Everyone! Thank you again Allan for all that you do for us.
Table hockey was a big deal for me as well. My 4 year old brother also stepped on my table, did some damage, but it was still useful for several years afterwards. As a teenager I translated that practice to an undefeated dome hockey record at the tables at the arcades at WEM. I haven’t played in at least 15 years, but I will take on all challengers anytime in 2022, lol.
It’s been a tough stretch personally for the last 3 weeks, but I am still lucky, unlike my wife (and so many others), I still have a job. And we are both healthy and happy. Although more and more it is looking like I may not have a job 1 year from now (8 from our small IT Department, some with 15-20 or more years, at this job were let go 2 weeks ago).
I work for a municipality and it looks like they are leaning towards reducing staff and contracting out many of the Departments. At least if it happens to me I will be prepared.
Even more difficult was my 26 yr old son’s recent stay at a hospital (4 actually) over a 2 week period. I likely still won’t be able to see him for several months, but he is back at his home and the concerns have passed (heart-related).
I took yesterday off so I could cook all day (the prep started the night of the 23rd). We prepared Christmas dinner for 3 other families and had them pick up their meals at the front door. So even though it was just the 2 of us I felt like we were not alone on Christmas. I have to say that doing turkey is getting easier and easier for me, as I have learned little tricks along the way. The results have been improving every year, since my first and very successful attempt 5 years ago. Here are some basic tips: don’t baste, don’t stuff and foil & butter are your friends.
As I was “slaving away” in the kitchen I could see one of our neighbours working harder than me building a “snow family” in their backyard for about 5 or 6 hrs. We got such a snow dump here in Calgary the other day that they even built one on their deck. They then set up lights for the evening. That was a real gift to me.
I have dear friends (husband and wife) who live in Sylvan Lake who have Covid. They tested positive on Tuesday. They have the biggest hearts of anyone I’ve ever met. They have given so much of themselves to make this world a better place, it is incredibly impressive and so humbling to me. I know they won’t complain, but I know they are struggling and my thoughts are with them. The vaccine can’t come soon enough.
Blasphemy.
I completely understand, people have long-standing traditions, ways of doing things and many adhere to “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. And that is okay.
For me it is about experimenting and then building on what I have learned to make improvements and learn from others, as well. I believe in culinary experiences and I am completely open to change. I know that others are not, but c’est la vie. .
I never understood the appeal of mincemeat, for example. And also, yuck. Please know that I grew up eating pickled herring, drinking buttermilk and of course LT’s favourite, Puffed Wheat and powdered milk. Main courses were often a variation of ground beef and potatoes. The only spice I knew was salt and pepper…
Today the world is a much bigger and far more interesting place for me, especially when it comes to food.
Air frying some Rock Cornish Game Hens tonight…hopefully a new delight.
Hehe. To me the only reason to eat turkey is to get a good supply of stuffing for the turkey, stuffing & mayonnaise sandwiches which follow. Otherwise I wouldn’t see the point.
As to variety I have lived in Europe, North Africa, and south-east Asia and my wife is European. I doubt if we eat 25 meals a year that you would think of as North American. I am lucky to be married to an incredible cook taught by her father who was a chef trained in French cuisine.
You still need stuffing in the turkey. No point in cooking it otherwise since it is hardly a refined cuisine. Most Christmas’s we just order in Peking Duck from our favourite Chinese restaurant.
I totally get it. Stuffing was always my favourite part of the meal, but I make something better. I do a cherry chorizo pecan cornbread dressing. I really enjoy it and I keep getting requests for it every year. Highly recommended. I make my own cornbread the night before. I’ve actually shared the recipe with posters on here before.
I won’t say too much more about stuffing, except all I do now is put 2 1/4’s of sweet Mayan onions inside the bird.
Sounds like you get to sample the best of all worlds defmn! Good for you, I am still working my way around the place :). This was my first Christmas in Canada in the last 4 years and it was a very good day.
Cheers!
The cherry chorizo pecan cornbread stuffing sounds interesting. I googled it and looked at a couple of different recipes for it.
We had a really nice – but quiet – day here as well although my wife did inform me early in the day that she wants to move back closer to water so I guess our days in Calgary are numbered.
If anybody is looking for a penthouse condo in downtown Calgary I know of one that is available. 😉
Soaking in brine overnight is the number one turkey tip I’ve encountered.
I tried it, but honestly I didn’t see a difference from my result previous to brining. And every turkey I have improved upon my efficiency and the end result. Less fuss, no muss…
The wife made herself a delicious Christmas dinner (even though we’re Jewish, my a lifer, her a convert) – some sort of lentil nut thing baked in puff pastry, mashed potatoes, brussells and a cranberry crumble cake of some sort.
I, of course, ate the exact same thing that i ate yesterday, and the day before and the day before and the day before…… i feel bad as I know she would like to be able to eat meals together, especially on a night like this, but she didn’t even bring it up= she knows my food and counting structure is important to me – in particular in this competition training.
I do have a goal of “branching out” and not needing to be some calculated with the calories/macros – not until after the comp though.
I do hope everyone enjoyed their meals!!!!
What kind of competition are you training for?
NPAA physique comp in the spring.
http://npaa.ca/events/
Nice. The link is for 2020 events. I assume they were re-scheduled for better times?
I believe they did the 2020 events virtual.
I spoke to Kevin, the President and Co-Founder (and my coach) and he assured my the event in May was going ahead in person – they had assurances from the government, etc. Of course, that was 2-3 months ago and things have changed since then.
I will be some sort of upset if the comp can’t go in person – its my one and only and I don’t want to do virtual.
Best of luck. That has to take a huge commitment.
Merry Christmas to all & especially our host.
Merry Christmas all.
Thanks LT for the venue and tough love.
Thank you the rest for keeping this a lively and brain requiring place to find a bit of refuge during the day (usually).
And all the best in the new year that God willing will be a less challenging one!
The Christmas gift I am hoping for this year is the Ethan Bear signed contract.
Well, maybe come Boxing Day/Week for the discounts.
I’m starting to think, with the news that Klef will not be coming off LTIR during the season, that the 3 year deal is looking more logical and do-able. Something in the $2.75M AAV range.
Lets get er’ done!
Table hockey memories… Loved those days, we had an after school league going with 8 boys meeting weekly for regular season games. We had a whole schedule including playoffs. We all had our WHA teams and my Toronto Toros won the inaugural cup!!
(left winger low, fake centreman going in low for pass, pull centreman back quick for a sweet pass from winger into the high slot and ram that puck in….that move was money.)
Merry Christmas!
Merry Xmas and happy holidays to you LT and all who frequent this amazing community.
Merry Christmas Everyone
merry Christmas, Al and your family and of course all the posters and readers here. This site is a gift to oiler fans from all over. We are having a zoom Christmas drop in today starting in about an hour. We have family right around the corner and one in Vietnam, this way all can get together. We have a lot to be grateful for even in this covid time.
It’s been such a challenging year
But we shall certainly persevere
With gifts galore and eggnog plenty
We’ll soon bid goodbye 2020 (thank goodness)
From all of me to all of you
I hope you have a Noel Joyeux.
As my gift to you–and because I’ve been on a SCTV kick lately–I give the gift of laughter.
Merry Xmas to all!!!
Thanks for the beautiful message LT. Merry Christmas to you and your family and to all in the comment section as well!
Happy 50th anniversary to the song Feliz Navidad 🙂
If you are like me and have parents who live nearby, you no doubt have been putting a new meaning to stubborn in shutting down repeated attempts by them to suggest the usual Christmas gathering.
Hopefully by Ukrainian Christmas we can have a limited gathering.
Best wishes to all.
Thank you LT for all of your great writing this year. Happy holidays to you and your family. Thank you also to all the folks who post here for helping keep me sane.
Merry Christmas LT, Lowetidians. The virus kept me from AB this December, so it’s just me and a dead ficus on a gulf island. As it’s been more or less since March. The vaccine will be a gift indeed. All the best in the coming year (and season!)
Merry Christmas Everyone. All I want is to go 10-0 against the flames.
Merry Christmas LT, and the rest of you here at this awesome place!
Hoping to see my parents in the coming year, it’s been 2 years now (BC/ON). I had aspirations to drive the country for the holidays this year, sure we all know where that plan went. Indeed next year will be better.
I work 7 days a week, the sun isn’t out yet, but now that I’ve got my LT daily fix, think it’s time for a Bailey’s in the next coffee, don’t tell the boss, same as the old boss. Cheers!