Snow & Beets

I spent pretty much the whole weekend in my snowsuit. The Rideau Canal opened to skaters for the first time this winter (yipee!!!). It was terribly late freezing this year. All this talk about global warming has me feeling like I should go out and plant trees or something. The canal was packed yesterday. I got a full-body check by a woman skating from the opposite direction. And only one section of the canal was open – the ice on the rest of the canal is apparently not safe enough to support skaters. Though part of me wonders if that’s the NCC litigation lawyers speaking more than the ones who look after the ice. The day before yesterday I was up in Gatineau Park on a snowshoeing nature walk. We saw tracks for snowshoe hares, squirrels and field mice. I went with my friend Kate and a friend visiting form Australia, Paul. They met when Kate was living at a hostel in Scotland. It was Paul’s first time in snow so that was funny to watch. (It was also funny to hear him talk eg) "I feel rather roley poley in this winter jacket".)
Anyway, we got to talking about lunch after snowshoeing. And that’s when I found out that a gastronomical oddity in Australia are egg and beetroot sandwiches. Paul didn’t know how the got into the Australian culinary diet. But if he’s an measure of Australian tastes, slapping fried egg between two pieces of bread is something enjoyed Down Under. We ended up having lunch at the burger restaurant, The Works. (BTW, it serves an Austrailian burger topped with a fried egg and beetroot). Paul didn’t order that. But he did get a burger with a fried egg on top. I should google fried egg and beetroot to find out how the union between beets and egg began.
Though I have to say it doesn’t beat my friend Shrimp’s preferred sandwiches: peanut butter and bacon. That just sounds weird.