If you follow weather like some of us crazy fanatics do, you know that warm, above zero weather is a common feature in the middle of winter.
“Middle of winter” we define as anywhere from Jan. 10 to Feb. 20, the dates when so many Canadians book trips to warmer climates to get away from snow, shoveling, freezing, etc, etc, etc.
And of course, we always delightfully giggle away at those folks, when they phone home and we get to tell them the tulips are blooming, streets are running in melt water, and the crops will be going in next week. Just about, anyway!
Some years, the warm weather lasts a week, some years longer. Supposedly, winter this year was supposed to be harsh, cold, and lots of snow. So far, not really!
While we don’t mind winter, and we love telling people to embrace it, because it just isn’t going away, we have to admit to enjoying last week’s Pineapple Express that blew in above zero temperatures. And coming later this week, Version 2.0 Pineapple should be rolling in, bringing even more warm temperatures.
In fact, the whole forecast for coming weeks is one of not very cold weather at all.
Well, we all know weather forecasts aren’t much to put money on, but if it all comes together, it has potential to be a fun winter, all told.

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As it turns out, Joussard is “the” spot for ice huts on Lesser Slave Lake.
Oh sure, there are huts at Canyon Creek and Widewater and Kinuso, but nothing like the little village at Joussard.
Is the count at Joussard going to hit 100? Maybe, with several weeks still to go.

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We don’t have an analysis of our MLA Danielle Larivee’s move to Alberta Children’s Services.
Larivee, you will recall, was cabinet minister in charge of Alberta Municipal Affairs, which looks after dealings with towns, cities, counties and municipal districts all across Alberta.
Children’s Services was not even a department a week ago. It was part of what the government called Human Services.
But, you might also recall the scandal in that department over the four-year-old child lost in the system and died. The minister responsible for that fiasco still has his job. The entire system is still messed up. Everybody is covering their butts. Seventy-one children supposedly under provincial protection died since 2014 and not a single report on these deaths has been made public.
So, Children’s Services is sliced off to be by itself and Larivee takes over.
Larivee’s former position in Municipal Affairs goes to a trusty union official from Leduc. Which makes a bit of sense, since Edmonton, Leduc and Beaumont have all been having words about growing and taking over turf there. So maybe it’s a good idea to have somebody who can go to a meeting every second hour and listen to everybody argue.
Some observers call Larivee’s repositioning not even a sideways move, but a demotion. We don’t think so. Children’s Services is a problem area and she is going to troubleshoot it.
So, all in all, it’s what happens down the road in the next 12 months that will really tell the story.