Twas the night before Thanksgiving Eve...

...and all through the State of South Carolina it was almost 80 degrees.  Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy warm temperatures just as much as the next person, especially when I'm used to being freezing cold this time of year and already sick of the gray skies.  (Which, except for that one day of snow, it sounds like you Ohio people don't have too much to complain about right now!)
  That being said, two very traumatic things happened to me this week.  First, I was driving through downtown Summerville and since it was late enough for it to be dark out, I was able to see all the pretty Christmas lights that they have decorating all of the oak and pine trees in the city center.  It was absolutely gorgeous, they really went all out.  But...I opened the window a crack to hear the concert that was also starting at that time and heard Christmas music.  With that window opening I was able to feel the warm breeze blowing through my car.  At that moment in time it ceased to be a beautifully decorated holiday scene and turned into those times when you're driving around in July and you find that one person who STILL hasn't taken down their Christmas lights (And no, they usually cannot claim the "Christmas in July" excuse.  It's freaking July, you were too lazy!)
  Second, as I was driving home from church on Sunday I turned my radio to the Charleston equivalent of 102.1 and heard Christmas music.  It might not have been so bad if it had been a song I like, but it wasn't.  So instead of singing along to my radio like I normally do, I got that "getting into a hot, stuffy car in the middle of June" feeling.  I don't know about you, but whenever I hear Christmas music during June/July I get that nasty feeling like when you climb into a hot car and it makes me not even want to think about anything Christmas at all.  That was the feeling I got Sunday.  So instead of being excited for the coming season like I usually am...I just wasn't.
  Ironically, the song on the radio was "Do They Know It's Christmas?"  I despise that song.  I just do, and always have.  (note: I figured there was a deeper meaning, so I read up on the background.  Having read what I did, it almost seems mean to be comparing relatively affluent people with starving Ethiopians, but I am going to anyways.) Once I thought about it a little more, I started laughing to myself.  Obviously people around here know what Christmas is and they celebrate it just like we do in Ohio (the term "we," including myself as an Ohioan is still appropriate.  I still have an Ohio license, so that makes me a dual citizen at the very least!) But the idea of celebrating Christmas in shorts and a t-shirt made me sad.  "The Reason for the Season" aside, I want to know...can Charlestonians truly enjoy the Christmas season with the lack of snow?  Is the viewing of Christmas lights less pleasurable when it isn't cold outside?  Does caroling produce the same amount of cheeriness when you aren't bundled up in heavy winter coats and brightly decorated scarves and gloves?  This remains to be seen!! Obviously, I know the answers to the above questions is yes, no, and yes, respectively. Christmas and the surrounding season is what you make it and ultimately we are celebrating the birth of a Savior and not decoratively frozen raindrops falling from the sky or hypothermia-inducing weather.
  Everything about Christmas is going to be different for me this year, and I look forward to it.  It will be different knowing that there is no chance for snow.  It will be different when I turn on my AC and my Christmas lights at the same time.  I would say it's going to be different to see palmettos decorated with lights rather than pine trees, but here in Summerville the "pine is sacred" according to the city motto, so I don't think that will change!  In any case, different isn't bad, just a chance to experience the everyday aspects of life in new ways.
  Well, my life is going to be incredibly busy for the next 30.5 hours and it is time to get some work done.  What I want to know is why we are obsessed with cleaning our homes before we LEAVE.  Is it just because we want to be able to say our homes were completely clean for 5 days? I don't know.  All I know is that I am one of those obsessed people and there is work to be done.
    There are a number of you that I will be seeing while home for Thanksgiving.  If I don't see you, it's not because I don't want to. It mostly has to do with the fact that I will only be home for a little while.  In any case, if you don't see me at Thanksgiving, find me around Christmas.  I'll be home for awhile then!
  Sleep tight and don't let the foxes bite!