Sunday, Dec 17, 2017 So far, not a typical winter for Toronto. We have snow on the ground and temps under 0 Celsius. It is going to warm up a bit this week, but we may still have snow for Christmas Day. The year had a sad start. At the end of January, my niece Joanna Aubut Sauermann died after struggling for many years with MS. The last time I had seen her was in August of 2016 and she was in hospital all the time I was in Nipigon. She will be greatly missed at all the family events and particularly by her husband and major caregiver Hans, and her great daughter Mandy. I had the flu at that time, so did not get up to the funeral, but, by all reports, they did her proud. I was able to get up there in early April to help my nephews and niece celebrate my sister’s 85th birthday. There was a nice public reception at St Mary’s Church, and many other family gatherings over the weekend. She is doing well for her age, and still does not suffer fools gladly, as they say. I was also up there in August to again attend the Red Rock Folk Festival. It was once again an enjoyable time, with lots of family gatherings. In July, I headed off to Montreal for a few days, primarily to see a big Marc Chagall exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. The weather was nice and warm and was good for walking around. Otherwise, it was fairly quiet year with the usual movie going, film festivals, operas and book clubs. My health has been generally good. I now have checkups at Princess Margaret Hospital every six months, and they are pleased that the skin cancer has not recurred. Life at City Park Co-op is going along well. There are lots of meetings for coffee and talk. The library I was volunteering in was closed down because of space issues, and they are looking for a new venue. It is always great to hear from you, and hopefully, you will contact me at cliff.gatchell@gmail.com or on Facebook. I hope you have a great Christmas and all the best for the New Year. Keep well.