A Quiet Night

It was a quiet night at HBIC Headquarters as I settled into the last evening before the celebration tomorrow. As a family, we were never into the religious side of the coin when it comes to Christmas, but it was always a time for family, friends, coming together, and sharing in the festive spirit and good food brought by all. It will be like that again tomorrow as we gather once more, but the gift of good health seems more poignant than ever.

Tonight, I spent the evening making some delectable delights for tomorrow's gathering, and I enjoyed the newest offering from the Disney Corporation as Encanto filled my evening with a great story about the magic of family. I wasn't aware that Encanto was Disney's 60th full-length feature film, but Disney did a good job in highlighting some important lessons about the dynamics in families and the importance of family as a whole in this film. It's not their best work ever, but Encanto has just enough charm and fun to keep viewers interested in Maribel's adventure!

I had thoughts about writing about the latest IIHF injustice with the organization cancelling all January tournaments, but I feel the need to be happy and festive today. Perhaps I'll tackle that after the break, but I didn't feel like assigning the role of Ebeneezer Scrooge to the IIHF tonight in the newest off-off-off-Broadway play entitled "A Cancelled Christmas Carol". With that in mind, I'm going to focus on the important stuff - health, friends, family, happiness - and purge the IIHF's cruel behaviours from my head for one night.

Speaking about breaks, don't expect much in the way of hockey articles tomorrow as I think I've been clear that I'll be in the company of people I hold dear and not worrying about sticks, pucks, and saves. There will be a quick blurb, but The Rundown returns Sunday with a special piece in terms of "going home", and we'll pick up the normal efforts again on Monday when life begins to return to pre-holiday mode.

To all my readers, I wish you nothing but the happiest, safest Christmas possible with the ones you love. If you're not celebrating this holiday, I still wish for you to be safe, healthy, and happy, and know that HBIC appreciates you stopping by to read. Thanks for not taking me to task too often for some of the rants I go on, and know that I want nothing but the best for you in the final days of 2021 and beyond. Take this weekend off, gather with the people you love the most, and tell them how much you appreciate and love them in these rather crazy times. I know I'll be doing that.

Happy holidays and Merry Christmas, folks! All the best!