It’s really hard to get into the holiday spirit in Southern California…at least for me it is. The streets and houses are decorated just like any other city, the malls are packed beyond belief, and San Diego has an amazing number of holiday-related activities (like parades), but it just doesn’t feel right.

Take today–here it is, December 16th, and it’s 70 degrees or so in the city proper. It was about 49 or 50 overnight. And it’s sunny. And there is almost no humidity (18-19% according to weather.com). There is only one thing making today not absolutely perfect—there is ash in the air. We have Santa Ana winds again and they are kicking up the ash from the big fires in October and November so there’s a haze (worse up towards Miramar). But even that isn’t as bad as it was. It’s pretty much another lovely day.

Trouble is, for this Midwesterner, it shouldn’t be. It should be cold, with a brisk wind and snow in the air (if not on the ground). True, in Columbus the actual white Christmas was kind of rare, but at least there was frost and you could see your breath in the air.

Now, before you start thinking that I’m complaining, I’m not really. Right now in Columbus (according to weather.com) it is 47 degrees and it’s raining. I can live without the cold rain (though 47 isn’t as bad as usual), thankyouverymuch. The forecast up until Christmas there is a mix of snow and cold rain, with a cloudy day here and there. Ick. The forecast for here is sunny or occasionally partly cloudy, with highs right around 70—right through Christmas.

It may not feel like the holidays, but damn, it sure is nice.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 16th, 2003 at 3:16 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.