Christmas from Florida

We are no longer the Twigs in the Sticks. Or the Twigs living in the city playing in the sticks, for that matter. Last September, we sold our condo in Cambridge, packed up and moved south. We are now the Twigs at the Beach.

We are currently living on a barrier island on the east coast of Florida. It is a very small town community. It is give or take a mile wide in most areas. Our little town does not even have a library. Everyone seems to know everyone. It is as you would expect beach life to be: a slower, more laid back pace with many barefooted people riding on bikes with surf boards under their arms. And everyone seems to wake up, and go to sleep with the sun. When we walk a night, it feels like that brief period in the city after last call, but before the sun, when you feel like you are the only one left, until a taxi cab whizzes by and reminds you that you are not alone. But here, it is eight at night, and the lights are out, the dogs are in, and there is nothing but you, the stars, and the sound of the ocean.

It has definitely been an adjustment. Probably the biggest adjustment has been the lack of seasons. The sun shines brightly everyday. The temperature seems to change only slightly. The landscape stays the same, and without fail, sprinklers run every night. Without the seasons, time stands still. It sometimes feels like being in a casino. It is really easy to lose track of time and become disoriented. Seasons mark change and new beginnings. But here nothing changes, and it is hard to know where things begin and end and where you are going. Christmas was especially strange. No matter how many Christmas songs I played, or how many decorations there were, I could not get myself into the Christmas spirit. Each time I saw a house lit with lights, my initial thought was not, ”Oh! Christmas is getting close,” but instead was, “Why do these people have Christmas stuff up during the summer?”

Christmas when it is 80 degrees out is definitely an interesting experience. People try to make up for the fact that there is no Jack Frost nipping at your nose and no dashing through the snow to be had. I have been collecting photos of some of my favorite ways Christmas is done in Florida. Some are clever things people have done, and some are simply just things you would only see in Florida.

And with that, I give you “Christmas from Florida.”

Frosty has to live inside with the AC on

Bill asked,"Why only *baby* Jesus?"

Christmas party... outside. It was actually t-shirt weather, but the only Christmas shirt I could find for Holden had long sleeves, so I thought he could deal for an afternoon... haha.

"Snow" at gymnastics

"Snow" on the ground

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Video of how kids in Florida go sledding: