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Hernando Today

A Tropical Hernando Christmas

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By MICHAEL D. BATES

Hernando Today

Published: December 25, 2008

Hernando County residents should wake up today to temperatures near 81. It might be a bit cloudy, but maybe the sun will peek out at intervals.

Just another Christmas in paradise.

We take this semi-tropical climate for granted, sometimes forgetting the snow and ice many of us left behind in New York, Michigan, Ohio and other frozen outposts to the north.

Many of our winter friends are visiting for the holidays and deciding whether they even want to go back to their homes.

With that spirit in mind, Hernando Today has assembled twin lists highlighting how fortunate Hernando Countians are this time of year.

For fairness' sake, we have included another list detailing some of the activities that we probably wouldn't have a (excuse the pun) "snowball's chance" of ever doing again.

Enjoy!

Ten things you can do on Christmas Day in Hernando County that you can't do in the north:

1.) Go Christmas caroling in your shorts and T-shirt.

2.) Open your new bicycle or skateboard and go outside and use it immediately.

3.) Call your relatives and friends in New York from the comfort of your outdoor hot tub.

4.) Go to Pine Island and swim in water - not walk on it.

5.) Take pictures of you in your swimsuit, download them and send them to your friends shivering in below-30 temperature zones. Make sure you include the greeting, "Wish you were here!" (It drives them nuts).

6.) Give your northern relatives here for the holidays a tour of your closet to show them all the room they would have if they didn't have it filled with down jackets and parkas.

7.) Go to Veterans Park with those same visitors, have a barbecue, play volleyball and remind them they will have to wait at least half a year to do that where they live.

8.) Wash and wax your car, but make sure you have adequate sun screen protection.

9.) Bend your elbow and enjoy a highball instead of a snowball.

10.) Be thankful your only contact with salt is from a shaker and not from a 60-pound bag in your garage.

Ten things you can't do on Christmas Day in Hernando County that your neighbors in the north can:

1.) Have a snowball fight with your brother or sister.

2.) Head out to the nearest lake and go ice skating.

3.) Put a log on the fire, open the drapes and watch the snow gently fall.

4.) Keep the car in the garage, rev up the snowmobile and head on out.

5.) Sing, "White Christmas" and actually feel the lyrics.

6.) Create a snowman or snow sculpture in the backyard.

7.) Unwrap a fancy new coat or fur-lined boots that looked really cool while shopping in the mall.

8.) Erect a shanty and spend a few hours ice fishing.

9.) Take a sleigh ride and sing, "Winter Wonderland."

10.) Three words: skiing, sledding and sliding.

Reporter Michael D. Bates can be reached at 352-544-5290 or mbates@hernandotoday.com.

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