The ‘Dol’ Drum is sounding

Editorial - The Regional: February 2012

The winter doldrums (or ‘dol’ drums, as I jokingly refer to them this time of year) are sounding again, their persistent, depressing beat dragging us down as only short daylight hours and cold temperatures can.  Pardon the depressing picture but as I’ve mentioned before, I am one of those people who “endures” winter, seeing it as part of the price I must pay for living in my beloved Canada. 

Although I could live without the cold weather personally, in recent years I’ve learned to enjoy the winter season through the eyes of people like my friend Dawn, who is genuinely heartbroken when there is less than a foot of snow on the ground to enjoy this time of year.  Learning to share in another’s joy is one of the wonderful things that happens’ when you start getting older – the ability to look at things through the eyes of others – seeing life as they see it. Having said that, I have to be honest… if I were given a “menu” and asked to choose the weather I preferred to experience, we’d definitely be feasting on some much warmer “entree” items.

A recent fall of snow has buoyed my spirits a bit, though… covering the ground in a blanket of clean white snow. But even though I’m trying my darndest to embrace the season by watching the sun sparkle off fresh snow or cuddling with hot chocolate and a blanket during a storm, I’m always glad to see February roll around.  As Groundhog Day passes and Valentine’s Day creeps towards us, I usually begin to feel the seasons start rounding that slow corner that leads towards spring, lightening my mood somewhat - even though I know it will be many weeks before the weather starts to warm appreciably.  And I have to confess, Family Day does inspire me to get out there and do some snowshoeing, which is one outdoor winter activity that I truly love to experience.  This year I plan to get my kids on snowshoes, so we can enjoy the fun together.

This month, The Regional is packed full of great information. Michael Long shares some great reasons to indulge in chocolate (just in time for Valentine’s Day!) and Stan Cameron proves once again that Education Matters. David Mielke shows us how to read with our eyes closed, Justin Popovic tells us to stop waiting for permission and we share a great tax tip from Liberty Tax. Im-PULSE-ive provides a list of ways to celebrate our love on a shoestring, Deb Robertson gives us her take on cosmetic augmentation and Paul Cookson explains why a consistent image is key when marketing your business. And once again, we drop in to Granny’s Kitchen for a simple but delicious recipe and – as always – we provide you with great information about community matters, news, events and happenings in the area.

We’d like to invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/theregionalnewspaper or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TheRegional for regular news and information updates throughout the day. I also want to take a few moments to thank our wonderful community partners – those organizations and businesses that assist us by making The Regional available for our readers to pick up each month.  You can drop in and get your copy by visiting any branch of the Caledon Public Library, Caledon Community Services or the Town of Caledon.  You can also pick up the Regional at Canadian Tire, Home Hardware, Garden Foods, Forster’s Book Garden and Wal-Mart (all in Bolton), Foodland, Berney’s Pro Hardware, Tom’s Restaurant & Trailside Café (Caledon East), Palgrave Café and In Studio Be (Palgrave) and at from the retail locations of many of our monthly advertiser’s.  Our list of locations is always growing, and you can check it out at our website: www.theregional.ca. 

We hope February is a great month for all of you!