December 21st, 2016

Welcome to the first day of winter.  Winter?  Seriously?  Well yes, I know it's winter. I can read a calendar. And all the Christmas decorations are kind of a hint.  But it doesn't look like the winters I remember.  In fact, it doesn't remotely resemble the winters depicted in all the Hallmark Christmas movies I've been watching, or the magazine advirtisements, Christmas stories or even the Christmas carols.  Florida has been absent in all Christmas related media. One notable exception, the song White Christmas wherein the singer dreams of white christmas because he isn't experiencing one. (point of fact, he is singing about Christmas in Los Angeles California, so it's still not Florida)  That's it. The only thing I could find.

It's not just Florida  that's snowless you know. Southern California only has snow in the mountains, Texas goes crazy if it snows.  I lived in Texas for about 4 years.  In that time I recall it snowing once.  There was just the lightest covering of snow on the ground and some ice. It all melted by noon but the entire city shut down. It's such a rare event that nobody knew what to do with it. They don't have the equipment to clear it from the roads and frankly, few people know how to drive in it.  The city made the right call.  Hawaii gets snow occasionally on the mountain tops which was a surprise to me. Snow in Arizona?  Maybe in the mountains.  I've seen photographs of snow in New Mexico so I know it's  at least possible there. But I know it's a rarity in Louisiana and Mississippi.  Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina see very little snow as well.  So that's ten of the fifty states that are unlikely to have white Christmases.  Out of fifty states. So one in five states have little to no snow.  Hmmmm. We are seriously under-represented commercially.

You know what, I'm okay with that. I think I am happy being the drinks on the beach fantasy that other people dream about while they are out shoveling their driveway.  I think I like being a winter destination. And I know I like not shoveling, not worrying about slipping and falling, not bundling to my eyebrows just to walk out and get the mail. I wore shorts yesterday. Yup December 20th, shorts and sandals. Nice. Especially when I look back a year.

Pretty, yes. Traditional, yes. Cold, yes. Slippery, yes. Convenient, no.  A few years ago, I fell on ice that was sneakily hiding under the snow on a sidewalk and broke my wrist. From that point forward, walking on ice was a lot scarier. It appears that  I break now.  Not fun. Maybe it's the novelty of no snowthis year but I think I'm liking it. I've lived in no-snow states and a little snow states when I was a lot younger so I have done it before. But I've also lived in  a lot of snow states. Each of them had their charms. And I was certain that as an adult, I would always live in a lot of snow state, a state with serious seasons. I was positive that I wanted it that way and that my opinion would never change.

There is a lesson for you today. You just never know what tomorrow will bring. And never say never. It's like a challenge to the universe.  Regardless of where I'm living, December 21st is still the first day of winter. That part does not change.