Some people seem to think it’s not Christmas if you don’t have snow and your nose isn’t in danger of frostbite. I wondered what it would be like to have Christmas in California. I thought it would be odd, slightly less Christmasy. I had only one taste of the warm Christmas in my childhood — but it was a Disney Christmas, in Florida, with fake snow and Mickey and Minnie.
But it seems California overcompensates for the lack of snow. More lights, more decorations, more celebrations (at least more than the small town I was from, and even from Plaza-lit Kansas City). There’s lots of celebrations for Christmas in the smaller towns — treelit streets, snow brought in for snowball fights, ice-skating under the palm trees. It seems every park, square, or small downtown has some sort of special Christmas celebration.
The result? I look forward to Christmas instead of dreading running in and out of the stores in the slush and the cold. It puts a silly smile, this California Christmas.
