Christmas was a time when my brothers told me lies. “Lick that lamp post. It’s good for you. You gotta do it.” It was 150 below zero and I fell for it. “Poinsettias are poisonous,” one brother said. I asked how he knew. He said, “Danny Boutwell had a friend who knew a guy who…

My older brothers had a favourite Christmas tradition. They used to save up the cardboard tubes from those rolls of wrapping paper and whap me with them until my mother made them stop. Through the years, our Christmas traditions became less violent. They involved sleeping under the Christmas tree, watching Star Wars, making Norwegian Lefsa,…

The moment you step off the train in Obendorf, Austria, you’ll think you’re in a fairy tale. Ambling through the postcard hamlet is the Salzach River; the snow-capped Alps watch from a distance. A 10-minute stroll and you’re climbing steps to a small chapel. Once inside, stained glass windows honouring Father Joseph Mohr, the parish…