Snow

Usually at this time of year my thoughts turn to the Eastern Seaboard. First,  have family there and am often thinking of them, wishing I could be with them for the holidays.

But there is also the element of seasonality. Here in Long Beach we have four seasons, but of a vastly different kind: Hot/warm and sunny, cold/cool and sunny, rain, and June Gloom (which is overcast). Leaves change but those plant types are the exception. And as is well reported in the media our Rain season has been a stranger.

So my thoughts turn to the seasonality of the Eastern Seaboard. To the true feeling of it being "Halloween". The chill in the air and the wind as it brushes through the trees. Very haunting.

Thanksgiving is highlighted by oranges and gentle breezes, with temperatures flirting with freezing.

And winter has this thing called snow. It's rain in solid form, and a thing we in Southern California keep up in the mountains where we can visit and leave if we like. It's a little like babysitting your friends' kids -- you deal with them for a while and then, just when the welcome is being worn out, they leave. It's kind of like that with our relationship to snow.

(Valley Forge, Pennsylvania)