What will the next decade hold?

Travelling to the airport over in International Falls on Sunday, Marnie and I joined many other district parents in welcoming our children home for the Christmas holidays.
Other parents are braving the highways to meet their children in the Winnipeg or Thunder Bay airports.
Everyone is on the move to share Christmas with friends and family.
As the pace of Christmas builds this final week, we can be comforted by the fact that come Christmas Eve, we all will begin relaxing knowing that the excitement of the next day will disappear in the blink of an eye.
For several weeks, I’ve had my car radio tuned into either the Christmas Classics or the pop Christmas music channels. Traditional Christian music songs have helped me gather in the spirit of the season.
I find myself humming or singing along to those old favourites.
Churches will fill on Christmas Eve with both believers and those who feel comfort in just being present to enjoy the story and the music.
Many will attend the midnight service and leave feeling a sense of relief. And many expect to be up early to catch the large eyes and amazement of kids and grandkids on Christmas morning.
The official longest day of the year may have passed, but Christmas Eve is the longest night for children. It also may be the longest night for parents who sleep with one ear open to catch any sound that their children might awake before Santa arrives.
With Christmas falling on Friday and Boxing Day on Saturday, many are looking to a long weekend extending through Monday. Many will enjoy a four-day vacation.
Cory Westover bragged Monday morning that he caught a crappie measuring more than 15 inches on his first ice-fishing outing. Arms a little sore from drilling 24 10-inch holes, Cory’s favourite fishing time of the year is now here.
And the ice measured almost 16 inches deep—more than enough to carry the weight of a half-ton truck.
I’m told the ice road has been plowed across Stanjikoming Bay, shortening the route from the First Nation at the top end of the bay.
Bob Stuart plowed a road north on Rainy Lake to Rebecca Island over the weekend.
Trout fishermen, meanwhile, are eyeing up the next decade. That season opens on Jan. 1.
Jim Martindale passed along the job of judging the best costume at the Voyageur Lions’ “Polar Plunge” on New Year’s Day behind La Place Rendez-Vous. The event has become an annual tradition in Fort Frances, attracting thrill-seekers from both sides of the border.
Of course, the community always comes out to see who is foolish enough to have the first-of-the-year bath in the icy cold waters of Rainy Lake.
This decade may be ending, and the next will start in just over a week. We could never have imagined all the events that would occur in our lives in the past 10 years.
What will the next hold for us and our district?