Little Hawk;
            I don't know why it is that I'm so surprised when you make sense. I think maybe you wind us up for a while but can't resist the temptation of dropping the odd gem of real wisdom here and there.
Your last piece was excellent and I do agree with what the others have said about the Maritimes.
Maybe we're getting a little older and moving closer to the big centres or maybe it's the same illusion that fools us into believing that the snow was always deeper and summers never ended. School really was uphill for me both ways and I did actually stub my toe on the top of a telegraph pole. I don't live in the interior any more and if I did, I'd be inside looking out at the snow thereby not participating in the various activities that still are a part of your identity.
I'll be making maple syrup again this year. The prairie farmers will still be opening up the fences for snowmobiles and cross country skiers. There will be a folk night in the local hall (A wood cabin) with its pot bellied stove and spicy hot something in a cup. And some old guy will most certainly stumble out of the woods, drunk as a lord on Christmas Eve just to sleep through Midnight Mass.
Things are changing but as long as you're alive there will be at least one crusty old Canadian holding the fort.
Grin!
Jim