WALKING IN A WINTERLESS WONDERLAND

- Renee Gannon, Assistant Website Editor

Well it’s that time of year again, and as they say, ‘tis the season. It’s time to drink spiced eggnog, listen to Christmas Carols and sit by the fire while watching the snow fall outside.  Then I have my reality check and realize I now live in Los Angeles where the only thing that falls from the sky are warm rays of sunshine.  This is my first holiday season spent living in someplace other than New England, where sleigh rides and christmas lights adorn the landscape and there is a white blanket of snow as far as the eye can see.  Well, I won’t be expecting a light (or heavy) dusting of snow this year, thanks to Los Angeles and its semi-arid, sub-tropical climate.  

I moved to Southern California in April of 2007, and it still hasn’t quite hit me that there really aren’t a change of seasons here.  Sure, it’s now December and it’s getting a little chillier, but I went surfing last weekend and I didn’t die of hypothermia, which is both exciting and unbelievable at the same time.  The one thing I have noticed is, with a lack of change in the weather, it seems less, well, Christmasy (if that’s even a word). 

I can’t say I miss the snow, per se, but there’s something about the New England weather that really embodies the festive spirit around the holidays. Sure, it’s cute to see Christmas lights on palm trees, and fake snow sprayed on people’s windowsills, but nothing beats the real thing.  I should probably point out that I actually hate the cold weather (which is one of the reasons I moved to SoCal in the first place).  I think snow falling on giant spruce trees decorated in white lights is beautiful from inside my 75 degree living room, but the second I have to step outside in the cold, scrape the 6-inch layer of ice off my car and hope my tongue doesn’t get stuck to… anything, is a bit irritating. Of my 24 years living in New England, you never once heard anyone refer to me as a ‘snow bunny’.

I started to think further about why it hasn’t felt much like the holidays this year and I realized it has nothing to do with the weather at all, but rather with my family.  Most of my family still lives in New England, and I started to think about how much I missed them, especially around this time of year.  Thankfully, I am lucky enough to be able fly back to Massachusetts and make it home just in time for Christmas.  Sure, I’ll probably freeze to death now that I’ve adjusted to the Southern California weather, but to me, it’ll be worth it  because the holidays aren’t about how many decorations you hang, or how much snow is (or isn’t) on the ground.  It’s not about how many gifts you receive or even how much spiced eggnog you can drink by the fire.  Christmas is all about spending time with the ones you love, and to me, that is the greatest gift of all.

I want to wish everyone a Happy Holidays, no matter what climate you live in!