Craic On

Eileen Dahill/N. America

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

At -20C it is cold outside. (Without the wind chill factor). But I live in a city fortressed against the Winter. We have snow plows, snow emergency routes, snow tires, and skyways between buildings to walk through. But today most schools are closed. I feel like I am going into a soft hibernation as I continually check the ‘larder’, need a cuppa something warm in my hand at all times and feel sleepy.

The Dogs of Winter

It is flashed on the news hourly to bring even the most seasoned kenneled dog in from the cold and into the home. But Finley and Angus of Winter, Wisconsin seem to like it.

Finley and Angus of Winter, Wisconsin are the massive Irish Wolfhounds of my friend Mimi. Mimi was born on the Isle of Syke and her small clan live in the country in Wisconsin. I enjoy tracking her ‘beastie boys’ online as they cavort on their farmland. I think it is their true nature as wolfhounds to enjoy this season that looks only black and white in the maw of a snowstorm.

The Tundra

I use my father’s trick of warming my car key up with a cigarette lighter to melt the ice particles in my car lock so I can easily open my car. I hear the crack of the ice more than the craic at the pub. Cars continue to slide into each other and our referred to as a “five car pile-up” or a “9 car pile-up” in the city. But somewhere in Winter, Wisconsin is the brave Mimi-the-nurse of Scotland and her beloved Finley and Angus somewhat frozen in time.