White Christmas

Growing up in south Texas, it always seemed to be a tossup whether we'd be able to wear sweaters on Christmas Day. We're known for our temperate winters, and true to form, more years than not, Christmas Day is a good day for a hike or a birdwatching expedition. I've spent, to the best of my memory, every Christmas of my life in Corpus Christi.

I say this all as background, so that you'll understand my excitement about the weather. All week, the meteorologists have been making dire forecasts about wintry weather, which in south Texas, generally means that the weather is dropping below 70F. They've been prompting us for days, for instance, that pets should be sheltered from the weather, and that layers are warmer than one coat, because honestly, we're all weather-retarded around here.

But for all the snow predictions that I've heard in Corpus Christi, and I hear one every few years or so, I can't remember actually seeing snow on the ground. I've seen sleet. I've seen icicles, but the snow never follows through.

So the fact that it's snowing right now in Corpus Christi, Texas, makes this a momentous occasion. I'm not just talking flurries, either -- the weathermen came through for once, and we've even got a couple of inches of accumulation.

Pictures will follow, naturally.