Away for the holidays

Our family went to visit my mother on Manitoulin Island over the holidays.  It's a trip that I made almost every Christmas as child, first to visit my mother's family in Blind River and then to visit my father's family on Manitoulin. 

The Island is quiet in the winter without the tourists, especially in the little town of Providence Bay where my mother lives.  There are no open stores.  There is one restaurant open only by appointment.  Every third house is closed up for the winter.  The traffic is so intermittent and slow that you can literally let your kids play in the street.

During our time there, we tried to be as laid back as the town was. We didn't check email.  We didn't do work. We ignored the news.  Instead we made snowforts, went sledding, rode snowmobiles, set off fireworks, played board games, and just hung out with a part of our family that we don't get to see often enough.

It wasn't the same as the Christmases I remember from my childhood, of course, but it had the same quiet and joy about it, and I hope that my children will look back on it with the same fondness.