Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow! Please?
Come December and the holiday cheer descends upon us and everywhere you look there are people shopping, stores decked out with seasonal items, aisle after aisle of wreaths and Christmas trees and holiday trinkets and candy, houses twinkling with icicle lights, Christmas carols that haunt you long after you've turned the radio off, grocery stores that put out the turkey and the ham, the pie and the cake up front where you can't miss it, and a lot of smiles and good cheer and people in red sweaters.
But everytime I think of Christmas the first thing I picture is a lot of snow. I guess I can blame the stereotype that the media has plagued us with since we were kids. Even back in India the greeting cards featured snow laden roads and Santa's sleigh, mistletoe and a big snowman and kids in boots, cap and sweaters riding sleds on snowy terrain. So when I picture Christmas I always visualize snow and cold and mittens and boots, a warm fireplace, and subzero temperatures. And all the time I've been in the US I've never been disappointed. It always snows.
And then we have something like this. A whopping 70 degree Farenheit a week before Christmas. Bizarre to say the least.
And no, it doesn't feel like Christmas at all.
But everytime I think of Christmas the first thing I picture is a lot of snow. I guess I can blame the stereotype that the media has plagued us with since we were kids. Even back in India the greeting cards featured snow laden roads and Santa's sleigh, mistletoe and a big snowman and kids in boots, cap and sweaters riding sleds on snowy terrain. So when I picture Christmas I always visualize snow and cold and mittens and boots, a warm fireplace, and subzero temperatures. And all the time I've been in the US I've never been disappointed. It always snows.
And then we have something like this. A whopping 70 degree Farenheit a week before Christmas. Bizarre to say the least.
And no, it doesn't feel like Christmas at all.
Labels: Christmas
posted by M (tread softly upon) at 9:11 AM
36 Comments:
I agree it's bizzarro weather. In MD they say there may be freezing rain on Christmas day. Closest to snow that will happen in thsi part of the world.
Please NO!!!! I have to drive an hour to work every day each way, I don't want to drive in the snow just for snow on my Christmas Card.
Hail Global Warming !!
hehehe... the temperatures in the 70s is pretty much how most of my christmases have been... The only time i had a snowy christmas was in Philly... but what good is the snow if it keeps you confined to the four walls of your home on a holiday.
I agree about the White Christmas stereotype and the fact that I lived in upstate NY for six years where you usually get the heaviest snow around this time reinforced the stereotype.
Out here in North Carolina its simply not the same spirit without the snow or the cold.
SIGH!! I HEAR YA! I have cousin with me to whom I have fed images of white christmas and the beauty of waking up and seeing a world covered with snow. I have conjured images of a big cookie covered with royal icing and brownies sprinkled with Sugar and all I get is a happy sun beaming at me and saying Nah...na...na na.....nah!!!
wow! 70 F!! that's crazy..well, no snow for me here in CA :(..i don't mind too much i guess...it would be way too cold for me...
I dont whether to be happy or sad - we're in Mass and it was 55F yest and today too. they say its defi gonna snow on Christmas Day. When it snows I hate it - when it doesnt - i miss it.... what can i say, its difficult to keep this woman happy :)
We had just one snow storm here some 3 weeks back and nothing after. Eventhough it's cold in the lower 30s. You have 70s now!! Jeez.. Come back here.
Its odd that it is 70 and yesterday it was a beautiful day at NJ with 60. I mean I think, last year too it didnt snow until christmas while it has snowed in places which do not have snow like Seattle. I guess I miss 'white' christmas too ...
its 28 today and nice and cold - we dont get a lot of snow up here near Portland, but its frosty enough to make it feel like Christmas should.
Hot Cholcolate with marshmallows, pyaaj pakoris (or onion bhajis as our brethren say) and the ubiquitous carols. This is Christmas...
Ditto, M! I don't think a green christmas will be that much fun!!!
It seems to be the same thing as kash phool and the smell of shiuli reminds me of Durga Puja...somehow we always associate festivals with how nature changes....the associated smells, colours and sounds.
Never been a huge fan of snow, would be quite happy if we went snowless thru the winters actually :)
@ sanjay well I've given up hope of snow this year for Christmas. Almost :)
@ sandeepa you aren't serious are you? Global warming? Can't believe anyone would actually support that crap. And I drive an hour and a half each way everyday to work and yes it is horrible driving through the snow and ice, but I'd still want it to snow for Christmas. And no just for snow in my card (which I have anyways), but because it doesn't feel like Christmas otherwise.
@ seashells well why should one be stuck inside the four walls? You go skiing and snow boarding and skating which you cannot with 70 degrees temperature. And as for people driving out there in the snow, you still have an estimated 900,000 cars out there who will be driving between Christmas and New Year. That doesn't sound like people plan to stay indoors. Come snow or ice :)
@ bongopondit yeah mine came from staying in Chicago I guess where I've never had reason to complain. And it is nice to have you back :)
@ cacophoenix oh I know what you mean and I am on the same page with you on that one :)
@ little miss muffet I guess disappointment stems from expectations :)
@ something to say LOL...yeah it kinda hard when one complains either way. But then it really needs to snow and get some sort of ground cover for a Christmassy feel, don't you think?
@ jinguchakka well the Chicago weather is the one thing I don't really miss much :) Except for this one time, one day when I'd really like to see some snow.
@ kausum well last year it snowed once in early Dec and then it got warm (although not like this year)and most of the snow melted. But there was still some snow on the ground during Christmas.
@ adopted bong well in that case I envy you. Haven't had a chance to wear the gloves and scarf yet :(
@ qsg we did talk about this warm spell earlier and i know how you feel on this one :)
@ aparna oh how nicely you put that. Exactly what I mean. Certain things that we associate or are led to associate with occasions. Like you cannot have Pujo without dhakker awaj and Mahalaya. Thanks for leaving this comment here :)
@ rohan well I'm not a great fan of snow and ice and the cold either. But like aparna says you come to associate certain things with occasions and there's no way I can think of Christmas without some whiteness.
I hope it stays warm. I don't mind snow but the city where I live is not well equipped to handle snow. We are still recovering from a 4-day blackout from the last snow-storm.
Happy Holidays etc. etc.
K.P.
Ha ha got you on that "Global Warming" thing right :)
But I really really am ok without the snow. First couple of years the snow felt pretty good but no longer. I like waht I have now, but it isn't going to stay that way, and am sure it's going to snow even in April like this year.
I miss the "kash ful" & "shiuli" so the absence of snow which is nothing but " precipitation in the form of crystalline water ice" is ok for me
You ladies and your love for that white curse called snow! hmpf...
Wait till you have to shovel a few inches of the dang thing... Then guaranteed your post would read thank god it is not snowing... And please, please, please let it never snow as long as I live!
happy holidays, irrespective of there being no snow.
it has snowed only once in pittsburgh till now :(
My first christmas in the US - and in Buffalo where it snows every year! And still no snow :-/
@M: Thanks :)
@Ubergeek: Be careful of what you wish for: you have two lakes right next to you, ready to pound ;-) Besides, didn't you guys get the freak October storm ?
Apparently, some dude in Nebraska bought a snow making machine because he wanted a white christmas! :D
It's supposed to snow a day after christmas in Boston! :p Go figure - guess they know it's time for me to go to India - so make it snow!!! Delay flights!
One big conspiracy. Hmph!
LOL... my best friend has gone to Buffalo to study, and she's had enough of the snow already!
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@ kele panchu nice seeing you back...happy holidays to you too!
@ sandeepa and that we know for sure that it will only rain and stay green this Christmas I can only sulk and make sad faces.
@ bharath LOL trust me I have had to shovel and dig my car out multiple times in Chicago and yes agreed it is horrible to have to do that with cold and numb fingers and six feet of snow but I'd still want snow for Christmas.
Didn't know the snow thing was a gender issue :)
@ dd happy holidays to you too!
@ ubergeek well you never know...
@ bongopondit :)
@ qsg well I hope your travel plans don't get messed up because of the weather. Bon voyage!
@ sue uh-oh may be she prayed too hard and that's why it's so warm around here. Although the midwest is getting its share of cold and snowstorms.
@ bonatellis but not at this time of the year. It is freaky.
Season's greetings and hope you do manage to get a few flakes magically!
It's a gender issue coz it's usually the poor guys that get stuck shovelling.
I actually prefer the mild winter. Commute is easy and people are happy shopping -- perhaps even more happy due to no snow. I don't think anyone who has shovelled would like snow -- at best tolerate it. Someone sais "Hail global warming !" Hear hear !! Happy holidays !
Tell me about it, Ive been grumbling all week. :(
Its actually very sad when the Indian versions of Christmas celebrations show snow all around and malls and hotels all full with crappy cotton (snow, apparently).... This when I think 2-5% of the Indian population would've actually been in a snowfall!!!! :)
Why the change in classification? No more soup for the soul and other categories?
hmm wish u a merry xmas M....hope u had lots of fun and as u wished it snowed tooo :)
and did it snow yet?!! Happy new year!
Merry Christmas and hope you had a wonderful weekend. And, I would say the weather didnt disappoint with it being in the higher 60's although would have liked some snowflakes.
Happy New Year, M. I hope you have a swell 2007. :)
Wishing you and your loved ones a happy new year!
u must be really partying!! long time no post...
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