Greetings from the desert

Well, Dara is back from Charlotte and all is well. She decided she just wasn't done travelling yet, so here we are in the desert. Palm desert, to be precise. The temperature is a balmy 60 degrees (fahrenheit, which converts to about 15-16 degrees celsius). That's t-shirt weather back home, and indeed I hear the t-shirts were dusted off for some warmer Toronto weather, but compared to the last time I was here (when it was 125 degrees F), it's rather frigid. Maybe I'm being California-nized, where a warm day in Canada is a cold day here in California. Or maybe I'm just losing weight (here's hoping for the latter).

In any case, it's nice to relax amidst the stoic calm of the mountains. And seeing the snow, far-off atop the mountains though it is, reminds me of home. And that's nice.

Chanukah is upon us, with Christmas not far behind. And though the media tells me that the two sides are warring ("there's too many christmas trees in this mall, not enough menorahs," or "this country was based on christian values... there should only be christmas trees") all signs here tell me that Christmas and Chanukah are getting along great, thank you very much. No word on Kwanzaa yet; he hasn't shown up to this particular party yet.

I think it's a universal desire to have peace on earth and good will towards all men, so let's have a helping of that, shall we?