{"id":12961,"date":"2015-12-21T18:34:41","date_gmt":"2015-12-21T23:34:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=12961"},"modified":"2016-01-20T20:51:43","modified_gmt":"2016-01-21T01:51:43","slug":"politics-as-usual-dreaming-of-a-white-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/politics-as-usual-dreaming-of-a-white-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"POLITICS AS USUAL: Dreaming of a White Christmas?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alison Collins-Mrakas<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, all the trappings of the holiday season are firmly affixed to every light standard, storefront and awning.
\nChristmas trees adorn every front parlour. A few of us have our Leg Lamps lit in our windows (\u201cYou\u2019ll shoot yer eye out\u201d, It\u2019s a \u201cChristmas Story\u201d reference. If you haven\u2019t watched this movie yet, you must. It\u2019s a holiday tradition you\u2019ll love).
\nThings look suitably festive, except there is one thing missing \u2013 one very important thing \u2013 SNOW!
\nIt is positively balmy out there, and according to Environment Canada, we should expect temperatures in the double digits for Christmas Eve. Bah humbug!
\nForgive me, but in my humble opinion, Christmas isn\u2019t Christmas unless there\u2019s at least a dusting of snow on the ground. Right now it\u2019s green and warm, not even one sad little flake. And I hate it. (I am sure I will hear howls of protest but I say \u201cpfffft!\u201d to that!)
\nI take my Christmas scene very seriously. I want it to look like a postcard and get bitterly disappointed when it doesn\u2019t. It\u2019s not particularly rational, but it is what it is. I love snow and cold weather. Always have. Big fat flakes. Mounds of snow. Huge snowbanks. Love it!
\nNo, I don\u2019t drive, so of course I love snow and ice. I don\u2019t have to navigate treacherous roadways (and frankly, me not driving is best for the safety of everyone). I walk everywhere and I love walking through our trail system when it\u2019s all covered in snow. It looks beautiful. Right now it\u2019s a muddy, brown mess. I say it again \u2013 bah humbug.
\nOf course, just two short years ago we suffered through the Christmas of the Ice Storm, so I should be grateful we don\u2019t have that again. I don\u2019t think anyone would like a repeat of days and days with no heat or power, but the temperature swing to Bahama-like weather is really no better.
\nWe will have a warm, green, rainy Christmas and, truth be told, that will be just fine.
\nIn all seriousness, we are indeed very lucky.
\nWe have a tremendous amount to be thankful for.
\nWe will share our holidays with friends, family and loved ones when some will be alone. We will have a few presents under the tree to open when some will have none. We will enjoy home-made cookies and a lovely turkey dinner, when some will have nothing to eat at all. We are very, very blessed.
\nI appreciate what I have \u2013 my family, my friends, my home, my job. I am truly very fortunate.
\nI try to give back through support of both local charities and the Scott Mission. It holds a special place in my heart and I support them every year. Making a donation, regardless of size, isn\u2019t much, really, but it is something.
\nPart of my New Year\u2019s resolution is to do substantially more.
\nWith that being said, I will sign off for this year by saying I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, a happy holiday and a happy, healthy New Year.
\nUntil next time, stay informed, stay involved because this is \u2013 after all \u2013 Our Town.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alison Collins-Mrakas Well, all the trappings of the holiday season are firmly affixed to every light standard, storefront and awning. Christmas trees adorn every front parlour. A few of us have our Leg Lamps lit in our windows (\u201cYou\u2019ll shoot yer eye out\u201d, It\u2019s a \u201cChristmas Story\u201d reference. If you haven\u2019t watched this movie […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-3n3","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-31 13:24:33","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12961\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}