This year I decided to go see my parents over the Christmas holiday. They have a cabin on a lake near the Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana border so with snow there promised to be a lot of outdoor activities.

They were pretty jazzed about snowshoeing. I would have rather cross-country skied but that involved riding from town with the window open to accommodate the ropes to hold the skies on the roof of the car so I opted for the snowshoes.

We then did such great holiday traditions as:
Helping a neighbor cut down a dead tree on their property, sled down hills, rile dogs, drink wassel, play scrabble and bore holes in the ice to fish in 10 degree below zero weather.

My dad made us go out to see the stars around midnight on Christmas Eve when it was absolutely 20 degrees below zero then spent fifteen minutes wondering aloud how the Indians slept through such cold nights until we forced him to go inside so he could learn how we do it now in the 21st century � with central heating.