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Wednesday 21 December 2011

White Christmas: Please do not let it Snow


Let it Snow White Christmas
If you live in the Northern Hemisphere Christmas is associated with winter and snow. In the Southern Hemisphere it is a total different story.
Australians, South Africans and other people who have summer during Christmas, experience Christmas totally different than people in the United States, Canada or even the United Kingdom
In the Southern Hemisphere it is Mid-Summer during the Christmas period and people are not even thinking of “Snow” during this time. It is however funny that all the movies usually show the “beauty of a white Christmas” – as kids it were difficult for us to understand the “White Christmas thing” but none the less it were still beautiful.
Sometime ago we had the opportunity to live in Omaha Nebraska. We were there over the Christmas period. Coming from South Africa we wished for a White Christmas with all our hearts. I have mentioned before we have grown up not understanding the “White Christmas” thing but knew that in the USA it would sometimes start snowing on Christmas day. With the beauty and movies in mind we were ready for our first White Christmas in the United States.
The whole week leading up to Christmas day we were singing along to Christmas carols and the Christmas music playing in our store in Omaha. One particular song stood out for all of us, being South Africans in America we really wanted the “White Christmas”. The song “let it snow, let it snow, let it snow” from Frank Sinatra were playing over the radio.
This song stick in the minds of our whole family and as we were hoping and wishing for a white Christmas we kept on singing “let it snow, let it snow, let it snow” everywhere we went that Holiday Season.
Almost everyone knows the lyrics and words for the song: “let it snow, let it snow, let it snow”. The way that the song works is if you hear it once, it sort of keeps on repeating in your head, it is the type of song that you want to sing along to and once it is in your head it is difficult to get it out of your head, Especially if you are wishing for a “White Christmas”.
Anyhow, friends invited us for dinner on Christmas Eve and we went and had a real traditional American Christmas dinner. Christmas Carols, Warm clothes, Warm Food, Turkey and there were even a fire place lit. We had a wonderful time experiencing the traditional American Christmas Evening but still there were no snow.
The fireplace is another thing we South Africans find difficult to understand. How can Santa come down the fireplace if the fire is lit? In South Africa and Australia it makes sort of more sense that Santa comes down the fireplace, because the fire is not lit, when we came back from our friends and our Traditional American Christmas dinner. We put out some milk and cookies for Santa under the Christmas tree.
That night I were singing “Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow” in my sleep. The whole time I was sleeping the lyrics of the “let it snow” song played over and over in my mind, still wishing for our first Christmas in America to be a white Christmas.
The next morning when we woke up, the first thing we did was to rush to the window, and there it was. Our first “White Christmas” in America. It was one of the most beautiful things I have seen that I have ever wished for, the start of a perfect White Christmas.
In South Africa it rarely snow, and although it where a perfect start there were some things that I did not know about Snow.
  • When it snows it is not really cold, when the snow melts it is FREEZING!
  • If you have never driven in snow. It can become a nightmare! (Please see our article on Let it snow – Winter Tyres).
  • When the snow melts it is cold, and you need to throw salt on your driveway and keep your driveway free of snow!
A few days after Christmas I had to open my store in Omaha, coming from South Africa I were still bedazzled by the beauty of a “White Christmas” on my way to the store I lost complete control over my vehicle and it slide without any control in some still standing vehicles on the side of the road.
Luckily no one got hurt and the insurance paid for the damages to my car. This year we’re going to be back in Omaha, Nebraska for the Christmas seasons and I hope it is not going to snow this year. Please do not let it snow this year; I have not driven in snow for quite some time.
Although I am not keen on a “White Christmas” this year, I still hear the song playing in my mind. “Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow”. If it is going to snow this year, I will be grateful but maybe just stay of the roads!

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