December, tomorrow we're in December. Wow. It's not a surprise as such, because if you do any amount of shopping this time of the year, you are conveniently reminded of the holiday approaching. There are a couple of streets that are nicely decorated around Montreal, McGill and Crescent being a few that I saw recently. But still. I've just been too busy to notice the month of November go by.
Do you know what I really look forward to at Christmas? Staying in one location for more than a few days, not taking the plane for a little while. I will be on site in Halifax until December 19, and potentially back for a few more weeks in the new year, but the last two weeks of December, I'll be in Montreal. Woot!
After Friday night's evening with Dina, Suzie and Liz (until 2 a.m., that's a serious girl's evening), I spent a really quiet weekend at home. I'm nursing a cold and a sore throat, so this felt like the best approach to avoid dragging myself back to Halifax with a blocked nose and watery eyes. I feel better today, but I still need a good night of sleep. I did manage to hang curtains in the bedroom, a blessing both for drafts and light reduction in the bedroom. It was hard to sleep with the street lights shining through the door (my bedroom has a door with nice glasswork, very pretty but obviously it lets light through). Last week, I also decided to condemn the door with plastic sheeting, so now the combination of a plastic seal and the curtain block most of the cold air. Let's see how this combination holds up when the temperature outside turns frigid. I took a few pictures of the place and posted them online. I even took a picture of the squirrel that almost ate my stuffing last week, I'm sure it's the same. It was sunbathing on my railing. I stood in the window, watching him doze off. He didn't seem to mind, little bugger.
Yesterday, I did a bit of shopping downtown. To my surprise, it only takes 15 minutes to walk to the corner of Guy and Sainte-Catherine from my place. Very cool. I hadn't realized how close I am to downtown. In the summer, it will be amazing to walk to restaurants to meet friends, to walk to the movie theatre, to work. I haven't done the trek to work yet, most of the time I am dragging my laptop around and it's heavy. I love walking around downtown, it's so busy and vibrant, especially this time of the year. The sidewalks are bare, people are out in numbers, shops are lit and decorated. Downturn of the economy? Whatever! Nobody I saw yesterday seemed to be too concerned about their investments, judging by the number of bags people carried around. Plastic bags. LOTS of plastic bags.
That makes me sad. As much as I enjoy Christmas, the time spent with family and friends, giving and receiving gifts, I am always stunned by the amount of waste generated. I know it's hard to remember to bring reusable bags when you go shopping, I sometimes forget mine. But still. I took one bag with me and used it to bring back the clothes I bought. And I always carry a folded bag in my purse, for unplanned purchases. They are available everywhere, most of the stores have them now. It's just a question of changing our habits.
Says the girl who severely contributes to global warming by flying every week. That makes me sad as well.
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