Gloating about the nice weather to your family and friends back east at Christmastime, in old-time Phoenix


I kind of feel sorry for people who grew up in Phoenix, especially if their parents did, and their relations, and friends. I mean, what's the fun of having this glorious weather if you can't gloat about it to friends and family back east?

You could, of course, be as obvious as this guy in 1893, who obviously sat himself down for a photo on Christmas Day in Phoenix, and even made up a little sign. Pretty obvious gloating! For me, I've always preferred a little more subtlety.

I moved to Phoenix when I was 19, and left the snow and cold of Minneapolis behind me, and also my friends and relations. So I never missed an opportunity to let them know how nice it was where I was now living! While my friends were dealing with ice storms, I would casually mention that I was driving my MG with the top down. In fact, I always drove that car topless, wearing gloves when it got really cold, and turning on the heater, which is something you could never do in December in Minneapolis.

At the Sahuaro Ranch, Glendale, Arizona on December 9th.

Of course nowadays all you have to do is post a photo on Facebook, which I like to do of my visits to the Sahuaro Ranch, which is right nearby where I live. There's no snow on the ground, not even a trace, and palm trees sway.

Getting myself to Phoenix was a difficult journey, and keeping myself from ever having to go back to Minneapolis hasn't been easy, either. But it's been a labor of love, and at Christmastime I'm not above a little gloating. Ain't this nice?
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