Saturday, December 22, 2007

Christmas on This Side of the World




In Australia, it is traditional for families to pack a picnic lunch and go to the beach for the day on Christmas. See, it's Summer right now on the bottom curve of the planet.

Here's a little secret: I'm not at the beach this week. It's not Australia here. It's California. For the record, we kinda actually have winter here. I will admit that it was 82 degrees the week I arrived home from Montreal. But this morning it was 48 degrees American under clear skies.

If I look across the city to the north, I can see the San Gabriel mountain range, dusted with snow from this week's rain storm (When it rains in the city, it snows in the mountains).

This was the first clear day in a few of them. This morning when I arose, the sunlight burned hard against the blinds. I got out of bed, got dressed, and walked to the hilltop at the corner of my street.

From this high vantage point looking south, I could see the City skyline over Elysian Park and Dodger Stadium. To the north were the burned-off peaks of Mt. Lee (from a fire last Spring), where the Hollywood sign rises over the city like an altar. Turning around, the canyon was varying shades of green and amber morning light.

I know there's been tons of snow in Montreal these past few weeks, and Winter only began today. And I only wanted to say that it's true the grass is always greener on the other side. When I saw photos of the snow in Montreal, I was envious. My friend in Montreal, meanwhile, made it clear that if she never saw snow again, it would be way too soon. Ah, we all want what we ain't got.

Here's the Christmas weather forecast for this side of the world: It's 49 right now, with winds out of the north northeast at 11 mph. Over the weekend it'll be 61 degrees American Saturday and Sunday, and about 65 on Christmas Day.

Santa will wear earmuffs there, sunglasses here, but it'll still be the same guy.
Joyeux Noel, amigos.