As I sit here in my office, snow is falling outside my window.
Yeah, snow… but for the first time since I’ve been in Oregon.
Oh, there’s snow in other towns around here… apparently the ones that are at a higher altitude, even if they’re further south. But here in Grants Pass, nestled safely in a valley surrounded by fairly low mountains, there has been nothing.
Back in Toronto, apparently they had several feet of snow weeks ago.
And it’s kind of nice to be in a warmer climate. I’ve never been a lover of the cold (just ask anyone who has seen my fingers turn white and ice cold, just when the indoor temperature drops a few degrees).
I’m just used to a white Christmas. I think I’ve maybe had one green Christmas my whole life… until now.
And all the Christmas movies we see, all the decorations and holiday-inspired scenery, feature snow as a continuous theme.
Then again, all around the world, people have Christmas without snow.
Our friends in Australia, from Mind Movies, are in the midst of summer right now. And even here in North America, only the top portion really gets snow.
But that’s only one part of the interesting cultural differences.
For instance, in Canada (and apparently the U.K.), yesterday was called “Boxing Day”. I’ve spent my whole life hearing about “Boxing Day sales”, and then “Boxing Week sales” (why only squeeze an extra day of shopping out of people when you can squeeze a week or more?). In fact, the official shopping day for Boxing Day sales used to be today, December 27, because the 26th was a stat holiday and all the stores were closed… but I think now it’s a free-for-all.
The funny thing is — with something that’s been SO ingrained in my consciousness my whole life — I got here to the U.S. and nobody knew what I was talking about when I said Boxing Day. Yesterday Barry and I were talking to a friend of his from Texas, and they both mentioned Boxing Day… but turns out Barry said it because of me, and Jared said it because he’s originally from Canada too.
Then of course my Dad, the history professor, told me that it’s also called St. Stephen’s Day. But Boxing Day has become the cultural phrase in Canada.
It’s funny how when we look at people around the world, in some ways we seem so different… yet in some ways, we’re all alike.
And whether it’s something like not being able to find bags of milk in U.S. grocery stores (and I guess only Canadians will know what I’m talking about) or what we call the day after Christmas, these small differences are nothing compared to the qualities and experiences we all share.
We are all one. We are all a part of a greater whole, and the similarities far outweigh the differences when we look at it closely.
Here’s to knowing we’re all connected.
Keep Unwrapping the Mysteries of Life,
