It does so work! :) Did you try it? Result:

    yep, we ski in dec
[download]

A few tips, then:

• If you'll be matching against the same variable (like $date) multiple times, use the /o operator. That way Perl will only compile the regex once, not each time through the loop.
• You could also compile such a regex using the qr operator. Check that out, as well.
• Of course, in this case, you might want to just use eq. :)

If I misunderstood what you're asking, let me know.