Notes from the Pond by Sheila Dobbie

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I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas is one of the most loved seasonal songs of all time. It is also the inspiration for this month’s coloring book. My granddaughter, Allison, suggested I color December white and I’m sure she was dreaming of several snow days off from school when she said it.

A white Christmas is dreamed of and hoped for by most children so Santa and his sleigh can come flying in for his annual Christmas deliveries. When I was a child I worried if December came with no snow until my mother reassured me that if it didn’t snow Santa would come in a helicopter.

Snow, snowmen, and Frosty the Snowman are all white, as is Santa’s beard. We know this because Clement Moore tells us so in his traditional tale Twas the Night Before Christmas. He describes Santa as a jolly elf and says, “…the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.”

But white is appropriate for this month for other reasons besides representing snow. White symbolizes purity which we see in the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. The angels who greeted the shepherds to tell them the good news of Jesus’ birth are always depicted in glowing white robes. The star that guided the wise men to the manger reflected a brilliant, intense white and is represented on the Christmas tree in a myriad of white twinkling lights.

As we settle in for “a long winter’s night” under a blanket of snow take time to enjoy the purity and innocence of the season reflected in the glow of young children’s eyes. I will let Irving Berlin describe a white Christmas—he does it much better than I can ever hope to. The words are as relevant today as they were in 1942 when he wrote it.

WHITE CHRISTMAS

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas

Just like the ones I used to know

Where the treetops glisten, and children listen

To hear sleigh bells in the snow

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas

With every Christmas card I write

May your days be merry and bright

And may all your Christmases be white

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