Snowflakes In The Air

Continuing on the holiday theme ... this past weekend marked our earliest ever effort to Christmasify our casa. We usually push it off until the week before we leave town, scrambling to mainline the holiday spirit before it whips right by us. But we got a headstart this year, pulling all the various seasonal geegaws out of the attic just days after Thanksgiving. We made a go of it, putting out the tiny tree and the Dickens village and the sadly crapping-peasant-free nativity, but I have to admit that I still have trouble acknowledging the season when there are green plants on the porch. How can it be Christmas time when I can still go outdoors without socks? I don't even know where my mittens are!

We were watching the compendium of Charlie Brown Christmas specials tonight and it suddenly occurred to me that, as a native of St. Paul, Charles Schulz documented the childs-eye view of Minnesota winters. The snowscape is constant, endless and always right at about shoulder-height. Although if he were really being accurate, there would be at least six inches on the ground while Linus waits for The Great Pumpkin.

So I guess that's why it's hard for me to accept that I should be gift shopping while The Admiral is mowing the yard. It just doesn't feel like Christmas to me without icicles hanging from the gutters. Or at least a remarkably dexterous beagle.