For the past 5 years my family, including Grama and Papa have had the joy of escaping down to the wonderful lands of Florida. It became a family tradition to spend Christmas in the sunny South, but this year we are skipping out on the snow birds. The day the decision was made that we weren’t going, was a day we all started regretting the moment the snow came; in heaps!
Goodbye Sunny South
This post is a bit of a sad one as right now, outside we are getting excessive amounts of snow. Sure, I love winter and snow but it is a sure kick in the chops when you are wishing you were in Florida right now. This time last year we would of been standing in some soft white, SAND. Sand. Not snow, sand. It would be tracked in all our clothes back to our Florida home, and become our “Southern Snow”. A lot of our family memories were created down there and it is bitter sweet to not be going this year.
So the question I am asked often is, sand or snow?
Personally, I prefer snow. It is something you know you only have to deal with for a few months. It is cold but you can escape it. Sand however, it is always there. It is impossible to get off of you. It is ALWAYS there. Doesn’t matter what time of year we go, there will still be sand. This Christmas, we will have snow.
Grama is having different emotions about this as she is outdoors shovelling the drive with WeeMan. She will however be happy the day we wake up Christmas morning, in our homes. This is something we haven’t done in a lot of years. The kids don’t even remember a Christmas at home it has been so long.
It was fun being in my 20s and being apart of the “Snow Birds” group. I was always the youngest at local events we’d attend, and because I always came along with cute little children we always ended up the center of attention too. We sure will miss the Florida family we created this year. They ask Grama everyday if we’ve changed our minds and are headed south. This year just isn’t going to be the year.
How am I going to bring the south to the north? I’ve been hunting for a fake yet realistic looking palm tree to setup on Grama’s front lawn so every time she looks out she can feel like she is in Florida again. They are really hard to find folks! I will just have to settle for palm tree shaped cookies, when I can find a cookie cutter shaped like one.
Starting New Christmas Traditions
It can sometimes be sad to say farewell to our Christmas traditions, but it will be fun to start new ones this year! We’ve never created homemade ornaments before, but this year we did. We’ve never really done the hardcore Christmas baking, this year we will be. This will also be the first year we will wake up to SNOW on Christmas day (hopefully) in a very long time. The kids will miss being able to go jump in a pool Christmas morning, but they’ll love going and jumping in snow too.
We say farewell to the southern traditions this year and get back to our good ole roots up here in the great white north! It will be easier to find skating rinks and snow tubing up here over the holidays. Have you ever tried to find a skating rink in Florida? It is impossible!
Now here is my question for you, which white do you prefer over the holidays; snow or sand?
I find it is so hard to create family traditions that aren’t based on what I did as a child. I really enjoyed your story, it has inspired me.