Ok, that may be a cultural idiom, but the point remains: there is no greater past time on a cold evening than to relax, to muse about things... and to imagine what things could have been like.
But not yesterday or last week. Or even before whatever that recent event one of you may be thinking about. How about April of 1755, the month when this great American campaign had begun?
Let's look through snowflakes, peek through frosted glass. And what do we see? Lots of attrition. Very aggressive, very highly skilled enemies. The full 104-month span ahead of us. But that's alright: Washington is with us. And he's already up North, having ridden horseback all the way through Midatlantic states; he is ready to teach, train, succeed, and, of course, win...