It's here at last --- welcome to winter!

Make some delicious hot chocolate, cuddle up with your loved one next to a cozy fire, throw a warm blanket over yourselves and listen to the songs that celebrate the season. "Winter Weather" written by Ted Shapiro is a good one to start with. This tune was first recorded by Benny Goodman and his orchestra and sung by Peggy Lee in 1941.

I love the winter weather
So the two of us can get together
There's nothing sweeter, finer
When it's nice and cold I can hold my baby closer to me
And collect the kisses that are due me
I love the winter weather
'Cause I've got my love to keep me warm.

Which brings us to another cozy winter song. "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" written in 1937 by Irving Berlin.

The snow is snowing and the wind it is blowing
But I can weather the storm
What do I care how much it may storm
I've got my love to keep me warm
I cannot remember a worst December
Just watch the icicles form
What do I care if icicles form
I've got my love to keep me warm

Now, doesn't that give you a warm, toasty feeling?

Yep, when it's snowing and freezing and miserable outside there's nothing like snuggling up inside where it's nice and warm. That is if you're living in a place that actually has a winter. But if you happen to live in a place like Southern California where winter is only an abstract idea, then it's more than bit depressing.

A cold winter's day in Los Angeles is a day in the 70's, if you're lucky. It could just as easily be a day in the 80's or even above. In other words, a day like any other day of the year out here; warm sunshine and people walking around in shorts, T-shirts, flip-flops, and sun glasses. Yes, many people are jealous of California winters, they would love to be able to sit outside in the sun sipping a cold drink in the middle of January. But do you know what? Those people are nuts.

We all need a nice cold winter to truly appreciate spring and summer.

Winter gives the year variety. It also gives us variety in clothing. I enjoy wearing coats and sweaters and scarves and hats, but it's pretty hard to pull off an ensemble like that in the San Fernando Valley. Not without people laughing and pointing.

I must admit that when I watch people on the east coast and in the Midwest enjoying their nice wintery winters I envy them. Shoveling snow may not be the most enjoyable activity in the world, but it beats waking up on a so-called winter morning to hear leaf blowers and lawn mowers.

With any luck we Angelinos might at least get a few more days of rain this year. That would be a blessing. But as far as having a really cold winter, it's not likely any time soon. Until things change drastically around here, I won't be drinking hot chocolate, cuddling under a blanket or sitting in front of an open fire roasting chestnuts.

My song for the time being will be something like:

I wish I had some winter weather
'Cause my wife and I can't get together
There's nothing comfy or swell
When the outside temperature is hotter than hell
Gotta have some winter weather
When it's warm and sticky
Snuggling is way too icky
I need some winter weather
Because LA is just too darn warm

(COMMENT, BELOW)

Comment by clicking here.

JWR contributor Greg Crosby, former creative head for Walt Disney publications, has written thousands of comics, hundreds of children's books, dozens of essays, and a letter to his congressman. He's been a JWR contributor since 1999.