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.
Nothing kicks off the Christmas season like Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer. In the South you’ll hear that song a million times on the radio during the month of December. Outside the South, well, I’m happy iTunes had the song.
Which is what got me thinking about the song to begin with. I would also hear plenty of Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, and occasionally the morning shows would play Jeff Foxworthy’s Redneck 12 Days of Christmas (yuk :-P). Occasionally being only 4 or 5 times a week.
At home though, Christmas was not Christmas without Elvis, Bing Crosby, Dino, and the aforementioned Elmo & Patsy classic, more Elvis, and the classic Tractors Christmas (I almost forgot about Santa Claus is Coming in a Boogie Woogie Choo Choo Train). Well, this was not so much at home, but at Ninny Price’s house. She was the one who liked to play the music, and these were her Christmas songs, now my Christmas songs.
Thursday was spent stuffing ourselves silly — well, not really. I never got extremely full like I usually do. So let me revise… Thursday was spent grazing on oysters, grits, and bloody marys, cheese, wine, mashed potatoes and gravy, prime rib and pie. It was a good day, not hectic, not rushed, not stressful. The antithesis of my usual day.
We did get out of the house this weekend, and took Milo to Lighthouse Field and the Beach to frolic with the other dogs. After 4 pm he’s allowed off his leash there, and man did he love it. Well, he loved everything except my favorite part — climbing around underneath the large trees, playing on their branches. It reminded me of being a child, when I would play under the rhodendron bushes in Roan Mountain.
I managed to get a few pictures at Lighthouse Field that turned out nicely. I don’t shoot nearly enough anymore, and I’m not sure I will ever adapt to the digital camera age. Checking my shots as I shoot is such a bother and sucks the fun out of it. Of course, had I done this, I might have noticed I still had my ISO set to 1600 — which was fine later in the evening. I actually discovered one of those happy accidents. When using the higher ISO on the digital camera in light conditions (well, fairly light, it was dusk) you get grain that resembles film grain… I love film grain. This is definitely something I will play with again soon.
Of course, while playing, I’ll fail to check any of the photos I’m taking. Thus the nature of “play”.
It’s been a while since the last post. I’ve been a busy bee, yet I haven’t produced much 🙂 I have a lot of things in my head though, and I’m through with the weddings and such.
In the meantime, enjoy the above pict. Life is one of my favorite games — as a kid I loved the board because it was 3D (and that noise the spinner made). Fortunately real life is actually much more fun than the game.
This blog began in 2005 as I picked up from Kansas City and moved to California. It has been a repository of thoughts, both past and present, movie reviews, book reviews, and a peek into my art and my life. So if you've ever wondered what goes on under the Hatter's hat, here's a way to peek under the lid.
