Hello to all, and may the holidays be treating you well. This particular holiday season is always an interesting one for me. Nothing bad, thankfully, but it’s a little weird (at least it is to think about in my own head).
December is the one time of year I ALMOST miss where I grew up. You see, I grew up where there was a pretty good chance of a white Christmas. Well, sort of – apparently the actual definition of a White Christmas in the U.S. is 1 inch of snow actually on the ground according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which while not uncommon were far from guaranteed. More likely there was a nice dusting of snow or maybe a light flurry that didn’t survive contact with the ground.. And even if there wasn’t snow on Christmas Day itself, there was almost certainly snow sometime through the season (though since I left 15 years ago, it seems the real snow is more likely to arrive around Valentine’s Day than Christmas – can’t imagine what might be the cause of that change).
So for me, snow is part of Christmas. As a whole, I don’t miss snow. It lost much of its magic for me when I got big enough to handle a shovel (which, believe it or not if you know me, took longer than normal). And after I got tall, cold got bad on my joints. All that said, Christmas still leaves a bit of longing for snow on the ground. I’ve indulged it once or twice since moving to Phoenix (because we can drive a few hours north, throw a snowball or two, and come home), but it’s been a few years now.
By the time you’re reading this, I’ll be learning a new job and Christmas will be in just a few days. Maybe I’ll take some time to head up north on the long weekend after all. Maybe next year instead (perhaps even make it tradition). I am sure that within a few days of Christmas, my longing for any kind of snow will move on again in wait of the next winter holiday season, and I’ll be back to appreciating grilling weather while it’s likely snowing or about to snow where I grew up. And my dad will of course remind me that snow doesn’t mean it’s not grilling weather back in PA – it just means you need some extra layers.
I totally get this, I grew up and currently live in Michigan. The 7 years I spent in AZ whenever I would start to crave snow (or trees) we would just take a trip up to Flagstaff to get my fix and then come back down again. The weather on this side of the country has definitely gotten weird, we still don’t have snow and most likely won’t until around Valentine’s Day , if we get it at all. Being a native Michigander that’s really weird for me but with multiple forms of autoimmune arthritis I can’t really complain. Between physical limitations and just generally getting older, snow also means ice which equals bad Karma for me if I fall and the cold gets really hard on my joints. It’s pretty to look at but that’s about where it ends for me nowadays. I hope everyone in the band has a wonderful Solstice, Merry Christmas, and a gentle New Year.