Santa Claus is Coming to Town
This post isn’t so much about the challenges of moving home, but more about some of the reasons why we want to come back.
It was snowing last night. Big, fat, fluffy white snowflakes – the best kind! I love Christmas; it really is the best time of the year. I think what really makes it magic is that everyone acts just a little bit more like a kid – in a good way. People seem quicker to smile, to hug, to share what little they might have. You can be full of hope and wonder and optimism for the New Year. It means a lot to me that we’re moving to a community that embraces the holidays so fully.
We watched Christmas Daddies today – gotta love cable! I was able to see the first hour or two of the Cape Breton show, and then the rest of the Halifax feed. What an amazing year for generosity! It’s wonderful to see how much money and spirit smaller communities can raise – an annual radiothon here in Toronto on Friday ended with a final amount around $160,000. Maritimes gave more than 5 times that today!
Moncton holds it own when it comes to the parade, too. It’s the biggest in Atlantic Canada, and third in the country. Toronto claims to have the world’s oldest and largest Santa Claus Parade. I’ve been to both, now; Toronto this year, Moncton two years ago. I have to say, I liked the Moncton one better! The floats had more connection to the community, more schools and Scout troops and those sorts of groups involved. Toronto’s floats were almost entirely big corporations – not that they can’t have holiday spirit and community ties, but there’s just something more appealing to me in the smaller organizations’ efforts. Sort of like the difference between a store bought card and a homemade child’s creation. Me, I always go for the handcrafted.
