This week I’ve been recalling some Christmas events in my past life. In this morning’s Advocate, there was the annual story about a little girl named Virginia who was crushed to find out there was no REAL Santa Claus. I remember I was about 5 or 6 years old when my cousin Kenny (he was a year & ½ older) told my brother Jim & I that he knew who Santa Claus was. Every Christmas Eve Santa would show up at my Mother’s parent’s house bringing gifts for the children. I loved believing there was this fat old man who would bring us “toys & goodies in his sleigh”. Well, Kenny figured out it had to be Uncle Earl since he always disappeared right before Santa arrived. Plus, Kenny noticed Santa stopped wearing boots that would cover his shoes. Ah-ha…check out Uncle Earl’s shoes and wait for Santa to appear. Bingo, it was Uncle Earl but my parents begged us not to tell my younger cousins since they still believed. I must admit, unlike Virginia, Jim & I weren’t crushed knowing Santa was make believe. We knew Christmas was all about the birth of Jesus and the SPIRIT of Santa Claus, his giving, his generosity, his charity will live on forever… a tradition to be carried on through our children. How old were you when you learned about Santa? Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus and he isn’t just around for Christmas.
A real blast of Arctic air is invading the lower 48 with below zero temps as far south as northern Iowa tonight. A fresh snow cover laid down from Denver through Chicago and into the Ohio Valley will aid the cold on its journey into the Gulf South. There will be a brief warm up New Year’s weekend before an even stronger blast of Arctic air threatens us with a freeze the first week of January. So far models are not hinting at another southern snow, however, with such cold air nearby, it wouldn’t take much to make it twice in one season. My concern is not with snow chances, but rather how cold will we get? It’s been many years since we have seen a really hard freeze (20-25 degrees) on the South Shore. It appears the next 7-10 days out will give us that opportunity. Stay warm & stay tuned!!!
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