It Looks Like Winter Snow

Winter has almost arrived in sunny California and that’s fine with me

It was very warm yesterday in my little town in California. Yes, it rained for a while recently but not so much to make things too difficult for anybody.

“It looks like snow," said a passenger in my car as we rode to the grocery store.

“It really does," I replied. “They did a good job with that."

Of course we don’t get any snow at all given that we are at sea level, and there is a part of a major river nearby.

My town installed a new festive thing on the entrance to downtown where there are big sections on each side of the road that can be filled with rocks of different colors.

For this season, the city employees used white rocks in large areas to make it look like snow had fallen and frozen right there. I like it quite a lot.

“We should walk downtown tonight," I said. “They have a big Christmas tree there and all the stores are decorated as well."

It’s not easy to make it look like winter in the warm states, but every little bit helps to bring the cold season into our minds.

I remember growing up in the snow and being excited about it. We would get plenty of fresh snow in December and January and those were wonderful times.

“Wake up, Darrin," yelled my brother.

“What is it?" I mumbled.

“It’s fresh snow, the really soft kind."

Boom, I was up quick and we ate our cereal and toast breakfast in a flash. Soon we were out the door and having the best time ever. I remember it well.

Fresh powder snow is the very best, unlike the frozen ice snow that you couldn’t use for anything. With the soft snow, you could make snowballs and a snow man too, and it was fun to hold.

It was so beautiful, the sight of a full two or three feet of snow out there where we lived in the county. Plus, it would often snow softly while you walked around and you had a big winter playland to enjoy as long as you wanted.

Time goes fast when you’re having fun and so those years went by in a hurry, and I try to remind myself of the good times having to do with snow and being young.

Yes, we may not have real snow in our small town in California. But if you look hard enough, sometimes you can see snow at the top of the hills in the distance. Plus, there is always a chance we could take ourselves to a place that has more white snow than they can handle and we will be happy to use it for something fun this holiday season.

If you have snow in your part of the world, please do me a favor. Enjoy it as much as you can and have a really wonderful time.