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| Out for an afternoon walk in the dark, cold, snowless landscape.
But what I do have to object to is this notion that it can't be Christmas without snow. Since when does snow constitute a key element of the nativity? I suppose it's because I grew up in warm climate that the association of snow and Christmas was never indelibly etched into my psyche. When friends would ask, "How could you celebrate Christmas without snow?" I would blithely reply, "How could you stand not riding the bike you got for Christmas until spring?" All climates have their advantage! I mean, White Christmas was certainly an exotic fantasy but seriously, I liked eating grilled steak on Christmas Eve! So this year, the weather has been quite mild and we've had very little rain so it's been dry and pleasant. I have not found reasons to complain about the weather, which is pretty good for me because I complain about weather a lot! I find it hilarious that as I write this I just came in from a wet, windy walk with Tanner. Today is the worst weather we've had all season...and if I'm honest, I'd rather have snow than rain. But even so, weather is not shaping my Advent journey. And for those of you longing for some of that white stuff, while you're waiting for the temperature to drop and the moisture in the air to be just right, remember that waiting for something with eager expectation is all part of the Advent Adventure. Just don't forget that snow or no snow...the Savior is drawing near.
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I am currently living in southern California figuring out what it means to be back in the US.
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Saturday, December 3, 2011
Day 7: Snow Does Not Make Christmas, Christmas
People have been complaining like crazy that there hasn't been any snow in Stockholm yet. Nary even a flake, which truth be told, is pretty unusual for this late in the season. However, one resident of this fair city is not among the complainers for I am quite ambivalent about the cold, white stuff that falls from the sky. Don't get me wrong...I do love the beauty of freshly fallen snow. I love the way it brightens up our dark landscape and I do enjoy watching Tanner roll around in it. And granted, if it's going to be cold then there might as well be snow because a snow covered dead landscape is much nicer than the stark bareness that ensues during a winter without snow.
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As an Australian, a hot summer Christmas is part of our tradition and so we pften hope that weather will not be too cool to enjoy an outdoor bbq celebration. However, I celebrated my first northern hemisphere Christmas in 1985 in Stockholm. Snow was abundant that year and I must say that at 20 years of age, it felt like my first Christmas ever! Our Western culture is so entrenched with the notion that snow and Christmas go together that it had been imprinted on my psyche - despite the fact that my experience had been other than this. I guess there is something exceptionally counter-cultural about the birth of Christ into our world - so maybe that helps me make sense of the counter-cultural experience of yet another Christmas and 'no snow'. Libby Byrne
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