It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas . . .

. . . Except that it’s all wrong! The weather that is. There is something innate in me that believe Christmas needs to be celebrated when it’s cold – and it is nowhere near cold here. The malls in Gabs are decorated for Christmas – garlands, giant trees with sparkling lights, even Santa in full North Pole attire. (Let’s get real, there’s no way Santa wears that to deliver presents to boys and girls in Africa. He probably dresses more like the Santa on tropical vacation you see after Christmas.) There are all the “traditional” signs of Christmas except the cold weather.

There have been a few things that set off this rant. First was a few weeks ago seeing sun dresses in the same display with Christmas trees at the Woolworths in Moleps. Sun dresses!? Why would you buy someone a sun dress for Christmas? Oh, that’s right because it’s hotter than Hades here! Then, there were the Christmas decorations on the same row as pool cleaning supplies at the Pick-N-Pay in Gabs. Pool supplies!? There is just something totally wrong with that picture. The final straw was listening to Christmas music at Swamp Stop in Sepopa over the weekend. We’re hot and sweaty from the bus ride, drinking Coke trying to cool down and listening to Christmas music. Again, there is just something wrong with that.

I’ve made the independent decision that Christmas needs to be celebrated when it’s cold outside - whenever that happens to be. At least if we celebrate Christmas in July here there’d at least be the possibility of frost outside. I have no sentimentality over December, I’ve celebrate a few “non-White Christmas’” in my lifetime but there at least needs to be a POSSIBILITY of snow. You know, weather near 40 degrees Fahrenheit and not 40 degrees Celsius.

Rant over. Tomorrow I promise to post all the good details of this weekend, I just had to get this off my chest.