May the snow come, and leave, quickly

With the unseasonably warm weather we’ve been having recently, it’s left plenty of opportunity for me to take the kiddos out and about. This past weekend, of course, we had to hit the downtown for their visit with Mr. and Mrs. Claus.

The Clauses arrived in a spectacular fashion aboard a vehicle from the Hot Springs Volunteer Fire Department, lights flashing and an eager crowd waiting on the sidewalk to welcome them.

Of course, the figure of Santa can be a bit overwhelming. My own kids shied behind me when the holiday figures first arrived, and it took two times through the line before they were ready to get in close for a picture, but we all left with hearts, and hands full.

But going back to that entrance, it certainly led to questions I wasn’t ready for, particularly, “Where are the reindeer?” Fortunately, the truck driver was able to provide a temporary answer, assuring them that he had picked Santa up at a secret location in order to give the reindeer a chance to rest up. As they questioned me further about this secret rendezvous point, telling them it was at the North Pole satisfied any further curiosity.

However, they’re also growing more concerned about the snow and whether it will still be Christmas if we don’t get any. Just a few years back at this same time, there was already enough powder on the ground for sledding down hills but it seems our usual helping of snow is somewhat delayed.

Mind you, I’m no fan of snow. I’m happy with the predicted 2-3 inches that suddenly turned into a deep white blanket overnight. And, of course, increased snow makes for increased runoff which resulted in some interesting situations with the river last year.

But, I can’t deny there is something nice, if not magical, about having snow on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. More often than not, paintings, stories, poems and other works of art depict this season as one of chills and snowflakes, not the sunshine and light sprinkles we’ve been having.

So, I certainly hope the snow does come, and soon — I’m running out of answers for the kids — but I wouldn’t mind it if all we saw was a quick-melting right around Dec. 25th, but gone into the ground by the 26th.