“I think I’ll work on the tractor this afternoon – make sure it’s ready for planting season,” Dave Winston mentioned to the others when they settled in at Mabel’s Grill for the morning coffee session the other day.
    “You’re gung ho, aren’t you,” said Cliff Murray. “I figure preparing for planting can wait until it’s a little warmer so my fingers aren’t cold.”
    “What can I get you boys,” Molly Whiteside asked as she approached their table, pulling out her order pad. “Mabel has a special on pancakes since she likes making them and they weren’t exactly a ‘hot’ item on her takeout menu when things were closed down.”
    “I’ll take my usual bacon and eggs,” said George Mackenzie. The others also ordered their usuals.
    “Glad to hear you’re so adventurous,” grumbled Molly, putting away her pad.
    “I hadn’t realized how much I liked these climate-change winters until we had an old-fashioned winter this year,” said Cliff. 
    “Ha!” said George. “Everybody claims the climate is changing, then we get a winter like this that brings the average down and they grumble about the cold!”
    “Well it must be great for all those people who have snowmobiles,” said Dave. “I’ve been hearing people roaring along the trail behind our place day and night for months.”
    “Well it’s got to be better for them after the last couple of years. I mean back in my day we paid $4,000 for a snowmobile and used it from November until March. Now they get to use theirs far less and they pay – what, $8,000 or $9,000 for it?” said George.
    “Uh, you’re just a little behind the times,” said Dave. “My brother-in-law from Guelph paid over $13,000 for his machine – plus insurance, plus trail permit!”
    “Holy mackerel!” exploded George. “I guess getting too old to want to be out in the cold riding a snowmobile saves me a lot of money!”
    “You talking about snowmobilers?” asked Molly as she delivered the guys’ plates.  “I gotta say those guys have helped save Mabel’s bacon. They tip well, too!” she said pointedly to George.
    “Well they make my new extravagance of getting a subscription TV channel look cheap by comparison,” said Cliff.
    “I had to let my subscription drop when I was living on EI, without tips!” grumbled Molly.
    “Okay, you made your point. We’ll leave tips!” said Dave.
    “I’m hoping for more than a fuzz-covered dime from the bottom of your pocket,” said Molly as she headed back to the kitchen.
    “Maybe eating in your machinery shed wasn’t so bad after all,” smirked Cliff.
    “So how come you finally broke down and subscribed to one of the streaming services?” wondered Dave.
    “Well it just got too depressing listening to the news!” replied Cliff. “All they ever seemed to cover was bad news and I finally couldn’t take it any more. I had to watch something else!”
    “You could have got your machinery ready for  spring like me,” said Dave.
    “I enjoy escaping the cold weather while I can,” said Cliff. 
    “So what are you watching on your subscription service?” wondered George.
    “Well there are some of the movies and series they make especially for the streaming service that are okay but I gotta admit I kind of like the old TV series they have on there,” said Cliff.
    “Didn’t you watch them when they were on regular TV?” wondered Dave.
    “Not some of them,” said Cliff. “Back then they were often on when I was out harvesting corn or helping a sheep give birth,” said Cliff.
    “You know, sometimes I wish they had channels that showed old newscasts,” said George. “Then you could see that sometimes things you thought were so important way back when hardly matter anymore.”◊