Irving Berlin's classic aside, the appeal of a white Christmas is a parochial one--most of the world's Christian population lives at a latitude and altitude that precludes it, and have never seen one.

As someone raised in the upper Midwest, however, I do have a fondness for them, and a holiday season sans snow always seems to be missing something (though southeastern Michigan wasn't always cooperative in that regard, either).

I'm spending the holidays this year in Columbia, Missouri. I arrived in St. Louis on Friday, and it was in the forties and fifties, with no precipitation. I've been in Columbia since Saturday, and the forecast has been for no precipitation through Wednesday. Until, that is, yesterday afternoon, when a surprise winter storm on the southern plains threatened southern Missouri as well, with a chance for some accumulation into the central part of the state.

I woke up to cloudy skies, and brown lawns, but about mid-morning, it started to snow. It impaired our ability to get to the mall for some last-minute Christmas shopping (and doing our bit to fight terrorism and support the economy via the purchasing brigade). A little after 5 PM, there's now at least two inches on the ground, and it looks set to hold up through tomorrow, or at least long enough for us to catch our flight back to southern California tomorrow afternoon, where white Christmases are unheard of, barring a trip up into the mountains.

So, just in time for the holiday, we have a beautiful carpet of snow, and it seems a little more like Christmas.

Now, you'll have to excuse me, because I have to shovel some of the white Christmas decoration off of the sidewalk and driveway. But this is one time of the year that I don't mind.

I hope that all my readers have a merry Christmas (and a happy holiday for those who don't celebrate Christ's birth), regardless of its hue.

And a very Merry Christmas to you! (from cold, rainy Virginia)

My wife, who has to work today poor thing, reports that on her way to work she saw a few flurries and even snow showers, but no accumulation.

I guess in these parts (metro Atlanta) that will qualify as a white Christmas for those who saw it or know about it...