From Mountains to Lone Stars

The snow fell lightly as the family slowly woke up. It was always magical the way the snow crowned the mountains, making it seem like the beasts had been covered in a white blanket. It was gorgeous, quiet. Winters in the desert were so different than winters anywhere else.

In another city, in another state, it was not snowing. It was warm, sunny. The rising sun hit the water near the beach and shone, reflecting how quiet and calm it was. It was like waking up all the beasts below as the sun glistened on the water. Winters in California were different, not because they were often warm, but because they felt so much more magical.

The family ran to the tree, as always. The two parents had to get their coffee, but they were ready to watch their daughters dig into their presents. As always, they were still in their pajamas. They couldn't be taken off, not even for the Christmas party.

The other family woke slowly, not quite as excited about Christmas. It wasn't because the holiday wasn't fun, it was more about aging. They knew what gifts they would be receiving. Presents could wait. They just wanted eggs, bacon, and coffee. What more could they possibly ask for?

The daughters dove into their presents... well sort of. The younger sister was nominated to hand out presents. She had to make sure everyone had a nice pile in front of them before they could start to unwrap. The father was in charge of trash and fishing out the bows to be reused. The mother was in charge of taking blurry photos.

The son and daughter sat down handing one person a present. Everyone waited while the mother opened her present. When it was unwrapped and everyone saw what it was, they moved onto the next person. There was no chaos like the Reno family. This was as organized as possible.

The girls gathered their presents into piles and started to take them upstairs. Now that the presents were unwrapped, they had to help cook and put on the tradition of A Christmas Story. It was the way the worked.

With the presents unwrapped and put away, the family moved into their dining room. They would go meet up with the son's friends' families and then enjoy a quiet night seeing the lights around town. It was going to be a nice, quiet end to the holiday.

Notes

Short and sweet. But I had to put something out. Don't worry, things are about to heat up.