We have had some very unseasonal rain here. As I type this I am looking out at an overcast sky, and Miss 2 had to wear a jacket today … in Perth … in December.
Most of my childhood was spent in the Northern Hemisphere, and my memories and traditions of Christmas were formed there. So the out-of-wack season has me feeling a little nostalgic. Here are some of the things I love about a Northern Hemisphere Christmas season:
- Having to put on coats, scarfs and hats, just to walk to the letterbox; getting so cold your face and hands tingle as they warm up; mulled wine to help with said warming.
- Carol singers coming door to door; Carols about snow and ice and cold (In the Bleak Mid-Winter makes little sense in 38C).
- Roasted chestnuts on the street corners; buying chestnuts even though I don’t really like them, just to keep my hands warm.
- Christmas lights that turn on at 4 in the afternoon because it’s already so dark; the fog on shop windows from faces pressed up to see the display; the peculiar (almost magical) glow, that the lights take on in the cold.
- And of course the snow … if it comes. Snow men, snow fights, and sledding; snow in my boots and seeping into my gloves; and of course warming up by the fire when all the snow fun is done.
I know the reality of a Northern Hemisphere Christmas season too, but for now I am gazing out at the grey sky and for a moment or two I am reliving Christmas’ past.
We have had similar weather here in Brisbane. People keep telling us it’s unusual to wear a jacket here in December. We also miss the Northern Hemisphere Christmas season, so thanks for reminding me of it Jo! Hopefully we’ll get to experience it again sometime.