Eh. Huh?

I hear it every day. When we lived in California we used to get asked about it, even though we were careful not to use it. It's an accepted part of life in Canada.

Eh?

What is it about that particular phoneme that symbolizes so much about Canadians? And why does nearly everyone, educated or not; brown or tan or pinky white; young or old, say that particular syllable?

eh?

Don't know. I don't know why people just south of the border into America don't say it, but people on the Northerly side all seem to. Maybe it just resounds in my ear because I didn't hear it (barring trips back to Canada) for ten years.

All I know is that, increasingly, and somewhat without my permission, I hear it passing my own lips. I hear what sounds amazingly like my OWN voice say it at the end of sentences, or when I am looking to change a statement into a question with one easy syllable.

Americans sometimes mock "eh" as a symbol of the beery "dumb Canadian" they see on TV. Just as Canadians mock Americans for what they perceive to be true from exposure to the media, they're wrong. "Eh" is not a sound of ignorance or lack of understanding. Instead, I have come to see "eh" as a particularly Canadian punctuation mark. It's a polite sound that symbolizes our desire to be understood. "Wow, those oil prices, eh?" "You're working on your PhD, eh?" "You'll bring the bean dip, eh?" It's a syllable that implies agreement, reconciliation and a hope for unity and peaceful discussion. Very noble Canadian attitudes, all.

Americans have several words that they use for the same purpose. "Huh" "Yeah" "Hey" Whatever, they all end up sprinkled throughout conversations like salt.

I'll go ahead and use it. Hopefully I can control my participation in the great "eh" campaign to a few "ehs" now and then. Like salt, "eh" is best used sparingly to add flavour. I like it. It sounds like home, eh?

On the convergence of weather and candy.

Well, suddenly it's winter.

A couple of days before Halloween, Calgary was covered with a thick layer of the white stuff. It looked really pretty - except for all the cars sliding off of streets, all the flashing lights of emergency vehicles, etc.

Although we had hopes, the 31st was still cold and frosty.

This touched off all sorts of reminiscing for Steve and me. I particularly remember heading out as a kid with my costume completely covered with a snowsuit. Just the mask let anyone know that I was actually coming to the door for the CANDY, thank you very much!

Kim was at work on the big night, wearing her kimono. Apparently Staples was so quiet that the employees were put to work, (hear the humor in this) putting up Christmas decorations. April and Benton both went out, and we managed to keep them both warm and costumed.

This will be April's last year out. We were ready to cut her off after last year, but all of her friends were going trick or treating so why not. They all put a lot of work into their costumes, and I think the candy acquisition was secondary.

Benton had a fabulous time around our neighbourhood wearing his robot costume. He and Steve wired it up with every LED, laser pointer and battery operated flasher they could find. He was visible a block away.

At the end of the evening, Steve and I sorted their candy as parents do, looking for anything creepy. More reminiscing: the smell of halloween candy is unique and unchanged from when I was 10.

The snow is still with us. We aren't too sorry about that as God gave us a beautiful fall with shirtsleeve weather as late as last week. Only 5 months till spring! In the meantime... let's eat candy!