This was both a familiar and an unusual Christmas in Sault Ste Marie.

The familiar
– Christmas Eve dinner was at my uncle-and-aunt’s and it consisted of the traditional dishes.
– Christmas Day dinner was at my mother’s house. My sister created the same menu my parents have served the last 50 years. My brother-in-law and his family cooked and prepared the meal with my sister and my mother.

The unusual
– my mother, who now lives in a retirement home, was both a participant and a guest.
– I stayed at the Water Tower Inn during my visit. (the image on the right is the courtyard from my window.)
– never saw the sun the whole time I was visiting. It was wonderfully warm (as warm as Northern Ontario can get in late December), but gloomy.