"Sleigh bells ring......"

 I would like to write that it is "Beginning to look a lot like Christmas", but it isn't. Today, is December 23rd. We are experiencing mild winter weather, here in Kansas City. Only about 45 degrees and not a drop of moisture to be felt. Gloomy, actually. Furthermore, it doesn't look like we will have a "White Christmas", this year.  I just took a peak outside, and all I see is overcast skies, bare tree branches and brown leaves on the ground. Ugly.

But, who started this idea about snow on December the 25th, anyway? You might reply that it was Irving Berlin, when he penned the seasonal tune, that tops most everyone's Holiday Favorites list. Not true (writes the self-proclaimed "Queen of Lyrics"). He was only "dreaming" of snow. 

It was in southern California, that Berlin wrote, his most famous holiday song, on a typically sunny and warm Los Angeles, day.  In 1941, he created this verse, as an introduction......"The Sun is shinning, all the grass is green. The orange and palm trees sway. There's never been such a day, in Beverly Hills, LA. But it's December 24th, and I am longing to be up North." At this point, Bing starts crooning.......

Maybe, it was Clement C. Moore, when, in 1823, he wrote "The moon on the breast of a new fallen snow, gave the luster of midday to objects below."?  Without a fresh snowfall, why else would Santa need a sleigh? Depending upon his location, Santa could have been just as famous for driving a Conestoga wagon, on a dusty road or poling a gondola, in a canal!

Could it be because of a Currier and Ives printed image?. Those gentlemen started drawing their iconic scenes around 1834.  Snow and sleighs, again. Old time memories.

We don't really need snow, to celebrate Christmas. The Shepherds, because of the latitude of Bethlehem, were not sitting in front of an igloo, watching their flock of sheep. But, I will miss it, this year. There is something about fresh, clean snow that brightens the Holiday scene. I just love a "White Christmas".

.......................................................................................................................................................................

Dear God. Faith is not about facts or even tradition. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen". Christmas will come, thank you God, with or without a few snowflakes.