Red and White

At last, M and I have got to sport our Olympics 2010 red and white gloves! We bought them as must haves during the 2010 Olympics in February and didn't get much wear out of them then. February was warm; we were busy and, before the end of the Olympics, we jetted off to visit family in sunny South Africa.

Last night we ventured out into the cold to see the Christmas lights at Capilano Suspension Bridge. We dressed in layers, sported our down jackets - black for M and impractical white for me, donned toques and, best of all, our red and white mittens.

Do you know that to keep your hands toasty warm you should wear mittens rather than gloves? Your fingers keep each other warm when they are all huddled together in mittens. In a glove, each finger, separated from the others, has to work harder to keep itself warm. And, as we have found, fails miserably when you are in sub-zero temperatures on the slopes.

M and I forked out good money for expensive ski gloves our first winter season on the slopes. Before long, on the chairlift taking us to the top of the ski run, we were complaining of cold fingers. One night, running in for groceries at Superstore, I saw a bin of leather mittens with sheepskin lining at a quarter of the price of our high-faluting ones. I was desperate for warm fingers and got us each a pair. They were fabulous at keeping our fingers warm regardless of how low the temperature dropped below zero.

And last night, our red and white 'We love Canada' mittens did a sterling job. Apart from the warmth, they are such happy mittens sporting the Olympic rings on the outside and a white maple leaf on the inside of the mittens. Feeling happily Canadian, I asked Ron to take our picture, tourist-style, with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police bear at the entrance to the Trading Post store.

Winter is a lot more fun dressed in red and white.