Christmastime is here, but the air is so hot, the sun so bright, and the barometer so low that it feels nothing like Christmastime. Do you know how to make the lingering coronavirus pandemic feel never-ending? Live somewhere in which every single stinkin’ day looks exactly like the day before it and the day before that. Is time even passing? Are the seasons changing? Is there something new to look forward to this month? I wouldn’t know, because I could have sworn that when I woke up today it was yesterday or August 10th or even April 30th, for that matter.

Save for a few years living in the Bay Area, I have spent most of my adult life in Southern California. Coming from the four seasons of the East Coast, I have yet to get used to this weather. I am envious of the snow in Cleveland today or the rain in Portland, Oregon. To get into even a little of the Christmas spirit I would like to to be able to (a) see a cloud in the sky or (b), at the very least, be able to open my curtains during the day without getting blinded by the ground-skimming December sun.

How could it feel like Christmas when every day is warm, when I have yet to put on long pants or even socks, when I have to change out of a long-sleeved T-shirt after breaking a sweat in the Christmas tree lot? I mean, aside from some Floridians, Hawaiians, and Arizonans, who can say that this time of year? Who would want to?

I’ve always loved the fall and winter, the change of weather, the crispness in the air, the smell of pine needles and rain, the beauty of waking up to fluffy white branches, but I’m stuck with a bare, sandy lawn because the summer was so hot we couldn’t even grow any grass.

So here it is December, yet it feels like I’m stuck in one of those horrible Hallmark/Lifetime Christmas movies that were obviously filmed in the bright sunshine and heat of August, when actors are bundled up in scarves and heavy coats, surrounded by blocks of Styrofoam snowbanks. You can’t see their breath in the “frigid” air, but if you look really closely, you may see a dribble or two of sweat trickling down their faces.

Our governor may need to issue another set of stay-at-home orders similar to the ones when coronavirus first circulated. Hospital beds are once again at capacity; more people than ever are getting infected. The reason the casualties are escalating most likely is that people were gathering during the recent holidays when they knew they shouldn’t have. All I can say is, it’s definitely understandable to try to make a day off feel like a holiday since every day looks and feels the same around here.

Still, we are lucky to remain healthy. That’s the bottom line. But is it too much to ask for December to actually feel like December–or October at the very least? Unfortunately, the pandemic is making this year drag on, and the unchanging weather is just nature’s cruel joke to make us feel that it will never end.