It’s December—the end of yet another year that flew by.
Blankets of white, frosty snow should be covering the grass of seasons past, but it isn’t. The forecast has been in the high 30s to low 50s for the last month and is predicted to stay that way.
It feels like the wrong time of year.
Everything is happening like it normally does every year; Christmas songs are blaring throughout stores and restaurants, my living room is covered in a collection of miscellaneous red and green items, and the evergreen tree is standing tall, covered in moments of the past, sprinkled with a pop of color and glitter. Still, I come down the stairs every morning and scan the room for my elf on the shelf.
The time has come to take my purple dress out of the closet where it has been sitting for 11 months and wear it to dance at church in front of the congregation—my dancing skills have improved year after year. The annual student “living nativity” took place last weekend, followed by our white elephant youth group Christmas party. These are always the highlights of my Christmas season, but this year, something was different.
It felt like the wrong time.
It still feels like the middle of October or November; the leaves are still on the ground, and the trees anticipate the snowfall with bare branches. It doesn’t feel like the end of the year; the semester isn’t almost over—it just started, right?
I long for driving through the snowy vortex and night, when the snow comes right towards your windshield and then flies right over it at the last second.
I have been putting off Christmas shopping because I can’t seem to find the motivation to do it. In years past, I was done before the first week of December concluded.
I’m yearning for something, one thing that will make it feel more like Christmas.
Snow.
I need to open the window and see the glistening paper-white snow covering the ground and frosting those bare trees. Last November, there were inches upon inches of snow. I remember last year, all my Christmas Eve festivities were canceled because of a blizzard. From this fall until now, Halloween has been the only snowfall. On that day, I was ready. I even turned on Christmas music leaving the school parking lot. It felt like the right time for winter.
But now, it doesn’t. I crave the cold. I long for driving through the snowy vortex and night, when the snow comes right towards your windshield and then flies right over it at the last second. I need to wear my giant winter coat with my black snow boots to school, but, for now, I can go out in a sweatshirt and not be cold.
One day, it will snow. Maybe next week? Maybe January? Who knows. But what I do know is that getting into the Christmas spirit without snow is a bigger challenge than I ever would have expected. Once it snows, I will be ready.
And suddenly, it will all feel right.
