The Christmas Snow
Copyright © 2019 Farley Dunn
Texas isn’t a place for snow.
Not that you can plan for. We do get the white stuff, and sometimes a lot, but it’s here and gone, rarely when we want it or find it convenient.
Except that one Christmas Day … when everything Texas went up in a puff of white.
See, the Metroplex (that's Fort Worth-Dallas) does get snow, but it's the messy type. Texans who want to avoid the stuff head to the Gulf Coast for Christmas week.
Galveston, to be specific.
That year, as December wound up, and Christmas grew ever closer, it wasn't Santa on everyone's mind. The forecast suggested an ever-increasing chance of Christmas ice storms for Fort Worth.
Not even Santa would be able to make it through. No Christmas for anyone! Bah-ha-ha!
No!! We were going where Santa could find us, and that meant driving 300 miles to the sun and the sand! It was the only way!
We lit out a day early as the snow started to fall, glad to leave the winter weather for the Christmas stay-at-homes. Ice-slick streets and downed powerlines? Not for us! Galveston! Sun! Sand! Christmas on the beach!
The first night north of Houston, we thought we had it made. Then, we woke on Christmas Eve to MORE WHITE STUFF. Again, we outran the storm, taking off for Galveston for the safety of the sand as soon as we could throw ourselves and our things into the car. It never snowed on the beach. Never! It was the safest place we could go.
Two hours later, we crossed the causeway onto the island, laughing at how we’d outwitted Mother Nature.
We set up a Christmas tree in our condo, laughing at the weather and the fools back home. The sunset over the water said our "Christmas Perfect" was to be ours.
Then the world changed. Santa shook his fist, God laughed, and Mother Nature said, "I don't think so!" We awoke on Christmas morning to eight inches of snow covering everything. EIGHT INCHES … IN GALVESTON … ON CHRISTMAS DAY.
We had them fooled. It was the best Christmas present ever. We took the Jeep to the beach and did donuts in the snow … on the sand … on Christmas Day!
That’s my Christmas snow, the best Christmas anyone could have.
The snow was gone by the next day, and we enjoyed the sun and the surf for the rest of the week. Who could ask for more?