by Joanne Rock
It feels funny to me that I’m not watching flurries fly while I wrap Christmas presents this year. I grew up in the Northeast, where the December holiday is almost always accompanied by picturesque snowfall and finding the perfect tree means a march through the woods—and more snow—to cut down the evergreen.
Most of my married life has been spent in the Northeast as well. There were a few stops in warm southern climes for various job opportunities over the years, but by and large, holiday shopping and fluffy white precipitation go hand in hand.
Not this year. For the past two Christmas seasons, I’ve spent most of December on Florida’s Gulf Coast where the only snowflakes are the lighted variety dangling from the neighbor’s eaves. Instead of color coordinating my mittens to my scarf for a shopping expedition, I’m still sporting flip flops and meeting friends at the beach for lunch.
There’s a lot to love about a White Sand Christmas. No accidents from cars sliding on black ice. No astronomical fuel bills to heat a house against crazy cold drafts. Instead of long walks in the snow, I take long walks on the beach. It’s warmer, brighter, sunnier and uplifting.
So when the Christmas cards arrive depicting icy scenes of pristine white, I admit I don’t feel all that envious. I have shoveled snow and lived to tell the tale, but it’s not a chore I want to tackle any more often than necessary. I’m discovering a whole new kind of holiday decorating that involves shells and poinsettias instead of evergreens.
Most of all, I’m shopping in the sunshine and that’s a nice bonus. Today, I’m wrapping presents with all the windows open and feeling plenty of seasonal cheer even without the white stuff. Merry Christmas, my friends! Tell me how your prep is going this week and I’ve got a copy of my upcoming book, THE RIGHT MOVES for one random poster.
THE RIGHT MOVES can be purchased in mass market paperback from:
Still gathering money to get my son christmas. So hopefully it all works out. 🙂