And even more snow.

Taken at 7:40 am, while it was still dark, and the air was full of snowflakes and the calls of crows:



The branches of the dead maple are bowed under the weight of the fresh snow - they were clear of snow last night as the day, while not being warm, had been sunny and some surfaces became clear of snow.

The snow is continuing, and is supposed to continue to early Christmas Day.  Apparently all of Canada will be having a white Christmas.

More Mama Mia

I very much am enjoying Mama Mia.  What they've done with the old ABBA songs is quite funny, and I think the all the acting bods do a very fine job of wringing every last bit of silly from the lyrics and situations.  I am quite fond of Christine Baranski's turn.

I thought it was clever to set the events in Greece, since we have all the Greek tragedies of children doing unfortunate things because they did not know their parents.

It also made me think of a movie I had seen a long time ago in the late 60's:

Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062767/

Only, in that movie, each man thinks the girl is his, and has done so from the start - but even then went home and married the girl next door.  The funny - haha - is that all three decide to visit their daughter at the same time.  The daughter was not an active player in the events of the story, but rather the platform on which all the pratfalls occurr.  She ends up in the hospital at the end (there's a happy ending, but still).

One of the things I think is fun about Mama Mia is that the chronology is totally wacky.  If the daughter is 20 in 2008, there is no way that her parents conceived her during the flower-power era.  Okay, yes, verisimilitude is not a prime factor in this flick, but I actually think it works to the story's advantage - it becomes mythic.

Why do fatherless daughters get a choice of three possible dads?

And now we have nearly rain.

We're about 40 minutes from sunset and it has snowed all day.  The heaps are very heapy.  Things are just about melting (there are drip beads on the dead maple branches), and the precipitation coming down is almost rain - not quite.  That's what we need: just a little bit of melting before sunset so it can freeze into crunchy weird treacherous shapes.

My folks aren't coming down for Christmas - which is okay because the roads are just so ugly and have been ugly for ages.  I'd rather we had Christmas later than we had a scary Christmas - but it does make things a little weird.  We're not even sure we'll get out to SOGP's Mom's house tomorrow (the plan).  The Skytrain was stopped for a while because of a fallen tree.  It wouldn't kill us to stay overnight there - but I don't wanna.

So, I have wrapped SOGP's gifts (I had no clue this year, and got him books.  He's very easy-going in the book dept, but I know he likes history and there was a new one by Gavin Menzies, so even if the other ones are so-so, this one will be a hit.).  Cleaned the tub.  Washed half the towels.  Sorted some of the heaps of paper crud in the living room and started to fill the rolling cart with paper recycling.  Paid some bills on line.  And tried to figure out what to feed the housesparrows since I failed to pick up their cereal yesterday.  I've been trying Quaker Oats, but it keeps getting buried faster than I can throw it out.  It's all very well to say that the Christian God watches the fall of every sparrow (or whatever), but he sure doesn't provide them with warm boots and rain hats.  Took down last year's Christmas Cards and put up the new ones.

And it so does not feel like Christmas Eve.

Happy Christmas to all of you.  Whatever you celebrate, may it be the best one you've ever had.