Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere

We’re 5 days away from Christmas.  In Seattle, as in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere, the halls are decked, trees are donned with silver bells and the weather outside is frightful.  The mood, we hope, is merry and bright.

Today, in this backwater we call home, we’re enjoying a different 26°.  Ours is of the Celsius nature (78° F for those not following along…), with a touch of heavy humidity thicker than Northwest snow…we’re damp, sweating and replacing the potential of frostbite is the sever risk of sunburn by neglecting to apply sunscreen prior to taking out the garbage or fetching the mail between the hours of 10 am and 2 pm.

With this in mind, now imagine Christmas trees with snow glistening and tiny lights hung with care.  Picture good ol’ Saint Nick, with his rosy cheeks, hyperventilating and cursed with heat stroke in every little shopping mall, in every little town.  This country decorates the centre of town, streets glow with lights and even Starbucks serves up its best Christmas Roast Coffee (complete with the red cups and ornaments for sale).

We live in a world of suspended disbelief – a temporary insanity to carry on a global tradition in the spirit of holiday cheer!  Our insanity is boundless…a country with no snow in winter, dreams of a white Christmas in the middle of summer.  Window sills are frosted with latex paints, stockings hung to corrugated brick façade, and midgets are employed with great fervor.

But reality sets in with the realization that our A/C unit is an apt stand-in for a fireplace mantel…and our friends in LA, Austin, or those who’ve travelled to the Sun for Christmas, all know what we’re talking about…Christmas in the heat, isn’t about fake snow, plastic trees, and twinkling lights.

Christmas this year, in the Southern Hemisphere of our backwater, is about something different, and all together the same.  Christmas will be spent with one another, celebrating our new lives, our new marriage and with a little luck a few of the friends we’ve made along with way! 

While we shall miss our family and auld acquaintances shall be brought to mind…you’ll find us this Christmas on the beach, catching a wave and devising new traditions more suitable to this neck of the woods. 

(And you can bet, we’ll see a Christmas movie or two, just for the A/C!)

Merry Christmas – Happy New Year!

DK & AM