Winter, the one season that you know is coming and leaving too soon, or not soon enough. For those of you that live up north, the snow can be having a nice, slow, and relaxing free fall. Or the snow is building up, tall enough to be scale models of actual buildings, causing delays and tedious labor.
Down south in Florida, we don't get snow, except for that one sprinkle in Jacksonville some time ago. Winter does not feel like it is here; the only way to know the season is here is to decorate the house with Christmas lights (sometimes all year long).
Whether you look at this time of year as a wonderland or not, there is always a chance to make the holidays cooler.
1. Turn down the A/C.
You know the complaint, the one your mother always shouted. "Close the door! What are you trying to do, air condition the rest of Florida?" It is a better alternative than this heat wave. More of a heat pool with all the sweat Florida sheds.
If the snow will not fall, the temperature on our thermostats can. Dial down the A/C to 55, walk around the house in the buff, and pour a cup of hot chocolate.
You finally have an excuse to drink it and can enjoy the weather (machine) from the comfort of home.
2. Tropical holiday party.
One minute it is hot, the next minute it is cold, sometimes it rains without warning; Florida cannot make up its mind when it comes to the weather. Indoors, however, you can predict that there will be warm front of cheer!
Lacking a fireplace? Build a bonfire or fire pit outside or at the beach. Still too hot outdoors? Throw on that swimsuit and have an eggnog by the pool. Celebrate the holidays like a Floridian.
3. Christmas in the park.
Having a theme party is one way to celebrate the season, but having a whole theme park is the tree topper on the Christmas tree.
Family traditions can take place from the inside your relative's home, or you can share an experience together, this time with a new tradition. Bring the gift of joy and the holiday spirit into your lives with the festivals winter has to offer.
4. Beaches.
Maybe the rides and festivals are not the destinations you were thinking of. With all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, it will turn the Sunshine State into the Sundown State.
While the sun shines down, you can lie on the sand and enjoy the cool and warm but pleasant wind on your skin. Florida has hundreds of beaches to choose from, but all of them have that summertime feeling. Perfect bumming weather!
5. Let it snow... somewhere else.
Florida has a bad reputation and the news makes sure the world knows just how bad it can be. The headlines are crazy, like "Doggy Daycare by Day, Meth Lab Also by Day" or "Man High On Bath Salts Thinks He Took a Bath, Pisses Himself in Public Instead."
An overweight man in a beard promises "gifts" to "good boys and girls" at the end of each year while he vacations in the safety of Florida from his elves and his wife he calls, Mrs. Claws. Sounds like a Florida Christmas to me.
Sometimes the best way to celebrate a Florida winter is anywhere else but Florida. Not every year, just as a palette cleanser before a new year of possibilities. Possibilities from America's toenail we call Florida.
Florida could be cooler, no one denies that, so let every winter freeze over Florida. Just until spring.
