Nothing about this morning is inviting. It is downright cold, only 37˚. I shuddered a bit when I went to get the paper. The sky is cloudy, a lightish grey cloud. Everything is still even the leaves at the ends of the branches. The dogs’ fur is cold when they come inside the house. I’m going out later. It’s a bundle up day.

My bedroom is filled with bags and boxes. In them are Christmas presents for my family and friends. Number one on my to do list is to divide the presents into families, keep a list of what for whom and then wrap the presents. I bought wrapping paper and tape the other day.

The controversy has always been wrapped or unwrapped under the Christmas tree from Santa. My family came down on the unwrapped side. It was because Santa had no time to wrap presents for all the kids. That made perfect sense to me. In all the cartoons, unwrapped toys were in Santas’ bag. Under the tree before Christmas were a couple of wrapped presents for each of us from our parents.

When I was a kid, Christmas programs appeared around the middle of December. My favorite was Suzy Snowflake dressed in a snow-white gown. She flew and had a wand she used to tap the window panes. Suzie always reminded me of the three good fairies in Snow White. She brought joy.

The story of my first Christmas in Ghana has one miracle. Every year I write about it. At Christmas time, it was the time of the harmattan. The days were blistering hot and sand blew in from the desert. Lips and heels split from the dryness. The sky was blurred from the dust in the air. The nights, though, were special. They were cold, down to the 70’s from over 100˚. I had a wool blanket on my bed. As it got closer to Christmas, I missed my family. I missed all the traditions. My house was decorated a bit, and that gave me some gladness, but I was still a bit down. One night I was lying in bed. The air was cold. I was snuggled under my blanket. All of sudden I heard a boy singing. He must have been in one of the compounds close to the school’s back gate, the one beside my house. He was singing We Three Kings. It was loud in the cold air. He sang every verse. I knew it was a gift. It was a Christmas present.