Tis the Season

It snowed yesterday!  I swear that I could smell it the night before when we were standing at the base of the Tribute Garden in Millbrook for the tree lighting.  The night sky started out clear, twinkling with stars and promising a cold night.  It was cold.  When I say it is cold though, I don't say it with any kind of disdain like most people do.  I spent 6 years living in Hawaii where it is never cold, it is always hot.  I'm a seasonal girl.  I will freely admit that I need to have change to keep me satisfied.  The weather was always the same in Hawaii; some people love that, but it was not for me.  I like the daily change in weather here, I like the change in seasons.  There is something about snow that is magical and waiting for the first snow for me is like waiting for Santa when I was little.  The sky has taken on that snowy look and all of a sudden you see one of those beautiful lacy flakes flutter down from the clouds.  That is magic!  I was hoping that I would see the first snow from the windows of our new house, but once we move in, it will still be the first snow to me.

I have done my Christmas shopping for my son online this year.  I will pick up some stocking stuffers and little things here, but I do most of my shopping right online now and I started that while we lived in Hawaii.  I honestly don't want to have to deal with people at this time of year.  I try not to dis my experiences anywhere.  Each place that I have lived in has been a new experience for me.  I really enjoyed my 6 years in Hawaii, but it wasn't one long vacation like most people think when I tell them I lived there.  I had a double whammy in Hawaii.  The Army does its best to put you in your place whenever it gets a chance, so that was always hanging over your head.  Then, there was 1 Toys-R-Us for the whole island of Oahu.  Yeah.  So, needless to say I always had a difficult time walking into any store on the island and finding what I was looking for when I was looking for it.  Add that to the fact that I have to say that the "spirit of Aloha" is mostly myth.  I have several very dear friends and their families that I met that keep me from saying that the "Aloha" is complete myth.  I had people try to run me off the road on 3 different occasions.  I was treated completely different from locals at the post office.  I've been called a "stupid hauoli" and been treated rudely while watching my father-in-law marry his girlfriend on Waikiki.  Basic common courtesy is almost extinct.  All of these factors create a shopping environment that is not conducive to the Christmas Spirit.  The last year to two years of my time in Hawaii, I kept more to myself and stayed on base as much as I could because going out into the community was that much of a hassle.  Add to it the constant and incessant bombardment via the news, newspaper, internet, t-shirts, rallies, and enormous signs posted along the road for Hawaiian Sovereignty and the hostility toward white people, tourists, and the military, and the word "paradise" begins to be tainted to someone who arrived with eyes wide open with wonder and a heart open to the Aloha that I'd always heard about.  So I began to do my shopping online and put my Christmas spirit into making treats for my friends, my son's therapists and doctors, and the support group we went to.  I decorated the house inside and out and the highlight was going to the candlelight service at the church right down the street from our house on post.  This year I am fully enjoying my son's delight in seeing santa and all of the Christmas lights.  I am also looking forward to attending Christmas Eve services at the beautiful little old church right down the road from our new house.  Christmas to me is a time to see my son delight in the season like I remember, and for me, to just revel in the beauty of the Lord's birth.  Season' blessings to all!