White Christmas

Pretty scene, but cold and wet.

I say, "Bah Humbug!" to white Christmases. In fact, I do not like snow at any time.

Instead of being a boy of ten, let's say, when people were fighting in the Pacific island jungles and swamps in World War II I had been one of those soldiers or marines, no doubt a white Christmas would have been great. The fantasy of such a condition at Christmas certainly must have been soothing.

Nevertheless, snow is not something I have or will enjoy. You see, being born in a tropical zone, my first life experiences were being warm and living free of the bondage of heavy winter clothing. Cannot remember the first time I experienced snow. I have a memory of going into the backyard of our home in a snow suit and the next thing I remember was being in the hospital with pneumonia. I think I was five or six years old.

Another was getting a sled for Christmas and on the first snowy day went out to use it. Sledding to the bottom of a moderately sloped hill was fun until I reached the bottom. There I fell  off the sled and landed in a small snow drift. I came out of it covered in snow and snow in my boots, under my mittens, and soon I was freezing cold. No fun.

Sometime around 1949, when the family was in California, I got a job as a newspaper boy for the local evening journal. The route they gave me was big and long (it even included a place called "China Alley".) Well, snow in Southern California is not totally rare, but it is exceptional. The route I had included a busy intersection of U.S. 101A and several streets that led to the heart of town. When I arrived at the intersection on my bicycle and heavy two-sided newspaper delivery bag the snow flakes were as big as half dollars. I could hardly see the traffic. I was wet and cold. So I went home. The next day, as the snow was melting, I returned to deliver the papers. As I took a paper to one of the subscribers, he came from his home and said, "Every time it snows you don't deliver papers, right?" I said, "It has only snowed once here in the past 20 years." I don't know if that was true or not, but I wanted him to know that every 20 years or so, he may not get a paper due to snow.

Snow has been my nemesis for many years. Ate frozen C-rations, fell in the snow in front of a bunch of South Korean soldiers, and shivered constantly until I came down with pneumonia again when in Korea in the mid 1950s, slept in an snow shelter in the High Sierras of California, and lived in Alaska for three years. The snow shelter was not fun; it was home for two weeks when I was in the Marine Corps. Alaska winters were challenging, especially up in the interior. Just last Christmas we had a white one. On Christmas Day my wife and I delivered hot meals to shut-ins. The snow was deep, it was cold, and while it was photographically beautiful, all I wanted was to get home and get cozy again.

Instead of dreaming of a white Christmas I dream of palm trees, warm sunny days, and mild tropical rains.