The Great Christmas Freeze

For four years now California has been suffering from one of the worst droughts in history. Winter comes and goes and the amount of remains far below normal. So our thoughts are often on the weather. I suppose that some people would envy our having 60 degree sunny days in January but after a while it gets boring and we long for a nice long sustained rain to end the drought and to break the period from Fall to Summer.

Well this Christmas we got part of our wish. There was a break in the beautiful weather, but it wasn't rain. Instead, cold artic air moved down from the north and dropped the temperature 30 degrees, but still no rain. Suddenly roads were slick with black ice and pipes and sprinklers were breaking everywhere.

As I sat in my office thinking about Christmas and the beastly weather I started thinking how silly many people would consider us. I'm sure that people in "snow contry" would think that we were really wimps. After all, the coldest that I heard of it getting in my area was around 13 degrees. But then I thought, "What if it really did get cold?" This poem was the result of my minds wonderings.

Gale L. Wolfenbarger
16 January 1991

The Great Christmas Freeze

Come listen children and hear my tale
Of the year that it froze so hard
That Santa's sleigh iced up in flight
And couldn't find our yard.

Now California's suppose to be
The land where the sun always shines,
And people in shorts crowd all the stores
To see what they can find.

But then came the year that the wind from the north
Blew over the land so fair,
And cheeks turned blue and toes did too,
And ice was everywhere.

The ponds and the lakes were covered with ice
The ducks were quite in despair.
They skidded and spun when they started to run
And froze when they took to the air.

The shoppers wore frowns as they trudged through the cold,
Their hands were froze to their bags.
The sidewalks were slick and they froze to the spot
If per chance they started to lag.

And travelers were stuck wherever they were
Over all the country around.
The trains couldn't climb the rails slick with ice
And planes were froze to the ground.

It seemed that this year that Christmas was not
To be what it always had been,
And folks sat 'round wearing mittens and frowns
With presents they couldn't send.

But just when it seemed all was gloomy and dark
And nothing gave reason for cheer,
The spirit of Christmas crept into each house
And found what it sought each year.

With no place to go or way to get there,
Families huddled 'round fires so bright
And told stories of Christmas's long in the past
And sang carols far into the night.

Hearts were now softened and ready to give
Not presents or cards so gay,
But acts of love and words of hope
To those they meet on their way.

A hand may be warmed by a fire so bright
And mittens made out of wool,
But a heart full of love will warm all that it meets
And never run out of fuel.

So remember this tale when your ears are both froze
And poinsettias begin to turn blue,
It's not where you are or what you've got,
It's the warmth that's inside of you.

Gale L. Wolfenbarger
24 December 1990