Getting up on the 12th December and pulling the curtains open in the morning gave me a great big start! Outside the entire layout of homes was blanketed in beautiful, pure white snow! By the afternoon it has grown to 3 inches of the white fluff across the area. No wonder the roofs are so sharply sloping downwards I thought, looking out at them, all blanketed in a three inch blanket.

By the end of the season I am sure it grows to a couple of feet and that's heavy for the roof to hold. Something like us in India were our sloped roofs are for the warm tropical monsoons that pour down through most of June. Though now with Climate Change occurring, it seems to rain much more than it did in the past. There is no specific monsoon now. Rain happens at any time there and it can be pretty heavy disrupting traffic like the snow does in Omaha.

However I am warmly snug in the heated house. Looking out at the blinding whiteness as I write this. I pick at my avocado and shrimp salad and a slice of roast chicken smothered in some gravy. The avocado's are from Bakers a supermarket along with a bright red pomegranates I found there. Pomegranates in the snow? Obviously imported or grown in the warmer South the avocados are tiny unlike the ones I get in India. But they taste good and I save the rather small seeds hoping I can take them home and grow them there!

There is a Christmas Station playing only Christmas carols and as I type and listen I try to figure out who the singers are. All the big names love to sing Christmas Carols and I am tickled to hear a rumbling Elvis Presley belt out a Blue Christmas, and Michael Jackson when he was a tot with the Jackson Five singing 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town' in his marvelous little Soprano. So hard to believe these great singers died much before their time.

Looking at the snow I hear the Christmas Marathon come on the radio channel where for two whole days the channel asks for help for all the poor in Omaha. Poor in this country I wonder? Yes! the Salvation Army is out helping to distribute thick jackets and hot food to so many poor people, I least expect to see in this country. Coming from India I believe that poor people can be found only in our countries and that's not true. The difference is there are people working to give everyone a wonderful holiday season.

I hear a lovely little boys voice announce --" Let there be no child in Omaha without Christmas gifts" and I think, how marvelous is that? This is a community that thinks of the less fortunate too. Bright red kettles are outside most malls and you can support the Salvation Army who does so much by just giving them a small donation. I am truly amazed to see how committed the volunteers are standing out in the biting cold of Omaha asking for donations, ringing a bell to attract attention.

As I finish this I can see the deck getting steadily covered with snow. The slats are already half covered with snow and I wonder at how the wood manages to stand so much of the elements outside. I go towards the microwave to make myself a hot cup of tea which I will enjoy with a nice plump croissant which we picked up in Costco. Lucky I write and research for my PhD. Being stuck indoors can be a killer and I can't see myself trying to drive and negotiate the slippery and treacherous snow.

And we grumble in India with that amazing weather we revel in, in Bangalore. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, I guess for us humans!