Where are you, snow?

A couple of days ago I put up the Christmas tree, and for that matter I've been drinking Great Lakes Brewery Christmas Ale for about a month already, but it still doesn't feel like Christmas. Obviously the lack of snow is contributing to this. I'm especially anxious since I spent last winter in western WA, where it rarely snows. A larger factor is probably the shift in my perspective compared to when I was a child. I never attached much religious meaning to the holiday, which works out just fine for me now being an atheist. Even when I was being brought up Catholic, however, the rampant materialism pretty much overshadowed everything. I was excited about getting new toys, and of course getting a break from school was nice too. Since I've become increasingly less materialistic (coming up with a X-mas list is a chore now, and one that I haven't really begun working on this year), this aspect of the holiday has not only lost its luster, but become extremely annoying to me. Fortunately there was always something else about the Christmas season, the aesthetic values of the decorations, and the lights, and the Christmas tree. That's still there. And just last night I watched the old Rankin-Bass Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and despite being for kids it was still enjoyable (same with Charlie Brown Christmas). Then there's other movies, like Home Alone, etc. which I still enjoy, but the effect of instilling in me the "Christmas spirit" is short-lived. I guess I sometimes get nostalgic because Christmas used to be such a big deal, and now it's just merely a nice time of year with pretty lights when the first snow begins to fall. Oh well, it is what it is.