Hudson Bay Company

Every visit North of the border I make a pilgrimage to the Hudson Bay Company, the present day descendent of Canada's one time frontier trading company. Famous for their wool "points" blankets, part of the fur trade in Canada since 1780. Points -- following the French system -- designate the size of the 100% wool felted blankets imported from England.
History and tradition aside I first fell in love with the classic multi-colored stripes in the 60's. My father, a traveler and traditionalist (I had to get it somewhere), carried home a collection of these now very expensive trade goods from a family trip to Canada and Alaska that also gathered up a selection of totem pole sweaters and scores of legendary (or maybe forgotten) family stories.
I cuddled dogs, read comic books with a flashlight and slept soundly under those itchy winter weight covers.
Those old blankets are long gone now, lost in the shuffle of living and moving. So I visit. Surrounded by the myriad of items now sporting the signature stripes I gaze back through the years and for just a moment I find that carefree time hoping for snow days and never feeling cold.