Monday, December 28, 2015

A California Christmas

On Christmas day this year, the temperature was nearly 70 degrees (Fahrenheit). It was an unusually warm day, capping off a series of warm weeks that Massachusetts hasn't experienced in quite some time. The warm weather so late into December seemed to be our consolation from last Winter's terrible storms. I joked that this is our California Christmas.

When I was in college, I did an internship in Pasadena, California. I lived there from June 1988 through December 1988. Being able to walk around in a light jacket during December felt like a miracle, and I loved every minute of it. "I could get used to this," I thought. I remember how sharp the cold felt when I returned home that Winter to New Jersey.

As I write this, Massachusetts is poised to have its first Winter event of the season. The predictions call for a light coating of snow which many hardy New Englanders will declare as "nothing." I count myself among those hardy people. I enjoyed our California Christmas, but I look forward to a classic New England Winter.