Pubs, Cafes and Coffee Shops

Ice storms have been ravaging the Midwest this week. And back home it is cold and gray. It's the holidays. It's what the holiday season looks like in all the old movies. It is cold in New York, Bedford Falls and Hammond, Indiana. In Tampa though, It's warm. Hot even. It was a record high of 85 degrees fahrenheit yesterday. And coming from the cold, dreary Midwest the warm temperatures were a welcome respite. However, the Christmas music seemed absurdly out of place. "Oh, the weather outside is frightful...". Frightful! It's god damn idyllic. Poinsettias and wreaths pale in comparison to the lush vegetation outside the front door. Santa? That fat man would keel over wearing all that garb! Here, Santa is clad in shorts and flip-flops. Almost all of the Christmas/Holiday ideas revolve around cold weather. Snowmen, the North Pole, sleigh rides. Are people in warm climates being neglected? What if they have been in Florida their whole life? Can they fully appreciate the holidays? And how did this warm weather discrimination happen? Is there a New York bias? I mean Jesus wasn't born in Vermont, he was born in the dry, hot Bethlehem. Maybe, Santa in flip-flops is more appropriate. That may well be but, for a few days in December, I love the cold. I need the cold to get into the Christmas spirit. While the climate in Tampa has it on the Midwest 50 weeks out of the year, for two weeks, I'd say they are missing out.l