Missing California? - SportsTop's Blog

SportsTop's Blog

Missing California?

Posted on December 13, 2008 at 11:10 AM.

In case you didn't read some of my other blog entries, I recently moved to southern California from northern Virginia. I was born and, for the most part, raised in SoCal but my family and I spent the last four years in the greater Washington D.C. metropolitan after my assignment there.

We first moved to northern Virginia nearly four years ago exactly and spent our first Christmas there in a hotel. There was a little bit of culture shock as the D.C. metro area is extremely work focused and much more diverse than southern California. However, the issue that took the most getting used to was the change in weather.

In southern California the weatherman on the local news stations gets about 90 seconds on the back end of the sports segment. It's always between 70 and 80 degrees, sunny, and clear (or so it seems). The only time you really see any snow is if you schedule a trip up to Big Bear mountain or Lake Arrowhead during the winter after a storm has passed through. In D.C. they often lead with the weatherman as graphics of "StormWatch 2008" comes up on the T.V. screen and Topper Shutt tells the audience of an impending snow or ice storm and expect major delays on the roadways.

You hear this and think to yourself, "This is a no-brainer, SoCal is the place to be."

Last night my wife and I were driving back from the store and noticed all the Christmas lights out on the houses. We (nearly simultaneously) said to each other that it didn't seem like Christmas was less than two weeks away.

It just doesn't feel like Christmas time.

It's hard to get into the holiday season when it's 65 degrees outside and you're wearing shorts and sandals to the store at 7:00 p.m. The Christmas lights aren't as bright, the holiday music isn't as cheery, and the season isn't as happy.

There's something refreshing about being in the northeast and seeing the leaves change color (it really is beautiful out there during the Fall) and the temperature gradually drop to the low 40's/high 30's as winter approaches.

As much of a burden as the snow can be, there's nothing like looking outside on a December night and seeing the ground blanketed with snow and Christmas lights hanging from the neighborhood houses. Then, seeing the look on your children's faces when they find out school has been cancelled and they can go play in the snow all day is priceless.

It just feels like Christmas.

So here I sit on a mid-December morning looking at which pair of shorts I'm going to wear (again) as I go out to finish my Christmas shopping.

I never thought I'd say this so soon after moving back to SoCal, but I actually miss the northeast.

Comments

# 1 BrownsFan72 @ Dec 13

Great read. I am from Ohio but lived in Southern MO and Northern Ark for a period of time when I was younger and it never felt like christmas down there to me. So I can totally relate to your thoughts