T'is the Season to be jolly

Ok – maybe not jolly but at least slightly happier than usual. A lot of pressure this holiday spirit thing, no where to go if you aren't really feeling totally ho, ho, ho.

Living at the beach and more specifically, on the river, means that the blizzard that wound it's way through Southern Ontario has hit us very hard indeed. I was chatting with a friend yesterday about the possible implications for this storm. She and her husband were completely snowed in and I came to her rescue for a much needed shopping expedition (eggs, bacon, beer and wine – the essentials of life).

I opined that I thought that once the snow thawed we might be finding a few dead bodies in some of these houses about town. 'Enforced confinement due to hostile weather' could be the 'justifiable homicide' claim by the defendants. I'm sure this claim would find sympathy with anyone who has gone through such enforced isolation with a spouse.

Now, it doesn't need to be this way but I feel pretty certain that most people manage their primary relationship around the idea that each partner has their own life and a large part of it is lived separately. To suddenly be face to face with said partner on a continuous basis; 7 days a week, 24 hours a day for almost two weeks – well, ok - you get my drift here? Not always a pretty sight.

That said, I would say that the husband and I have done pretty well through this time of 'snow hibernation.' I think that may be because we have already gone through such a time. Over the past three years since moving back to Canada from the UK, we have spent more time together than in our entire relationship. We have learned to accept each other and our 'weird ways of being' – which do get increasingly weirder – by the way!

Today we are off again for a mini-break to Blue Mountain. It is our 15^th wedding anniversary on the 23^rd but we thought it would be fun to celebrate it now before Christmas takes over and we forget that we did actually get married after living together for five years.

Marriage isn't always jolly but it is easier to face the less jolly times with someone you love.

Here's to the next 15 years.