A Sunny Christmas

Photo by Thomas Kelley on Unsplash

Christmas in Orlando, Florida (our current location) isn't much different from Christmas in Los Angeles (our starting point). In public places, the endless soundtrack of songs about snow and sleigh bells is contradicted by the warm sunshine and blooming flowers. The only snowmen are the inflatable kind. Families travel from colder places to spend their holiday vacations here, and the theme parks do a booming business.

While winter weather is a beloved Christmas cliche in North America, it's summer in the Southern Hemisphere, and not exactly cold in the tropics and subtropics. Most of the populated areas on the planet do not experience a "white Christmas". Because I grew up in southern California, I think of Christmas as a sunny time, when people just might go to the beach. For me, Christmas in Florida feels like home.

Wherever you are, I wish you a wonderful season and a new year filled with love and happiness. Here is Irving Berlin's "Happy Holiday" as performed by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters in 1942.