Bring on the snow!

So this weekend I got together with some old friends and had the chance to meet some new ones as well. The reason was to celebrate the first snowboarding of the season. Granted the snow was really ice from a Zamboni and the mountain was a hill in a backyard, it didn’t manage to stop the unbridled enthusiasm.

For many of us we have found ways to pacify our needs of the winter, the ability to slide down snow. This is most commonly masked in surfing, but can also be seen in other sports such as skating and now SUMO, not the wrestling. But alas, winter has now arrived.

It appears that all of the hard work has paid off because in the last four days, we have seen snow twice. In addition it looks promising that our local hill will be open this weekend to ride. So for all of you there Friday night, thank you for a great time! For all of you who want to learn to ride this winter or get better, come on out! But most importantly, keep the snow coming or all of us that have learned why this sport is so great!

Our friends to the north...

Toronto you are a strange little town. Let me start by saying I love this city and I would rank it in the top 5 cities that I have ever been to in the world. It is just strange how it is only an hour away, yet the city itself feels like a total enigma to most Americans. What is it that makes us feel this way?

Let’s face it; Toronto is the Canadian version of Chicago with a couple of major changes. The corrupt politics, well those are in Ottawa. The over presence of union labor, first it would be spelled “labour” and frankly it isn’t as repressive. The shopping and dining are both amazing in each city, with a more cosmopolitan feel going to our neighbors to the north.

But maybe my last statement sums it up. Chicago is one of the most highly educated and diverse cities in our country, but to be honest, Toronto feels smarter, worldlier. Toronto is the melting pot that the United States was close to 100 years ago with all of the sophistication on a major city. Socialized medicine and a way for its entire society to earn a degree or a trade. With the dollar falling and the world becoming smaller, I think it is time for us to drop the us vs. them attitude. Granted Strange Brew was hilarious and they have given us a lot to laugh at over the years, maybe, just maybe it is time for us all to get on the same page and truly become North America. Really do you need to stamp my passport to go there?