Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-25

l little round hills which form the foot
/ hills OF the Sierra Nevadas ana lhe
| Sierra Madres here on the coast.
| 1t is in these hills that Christmas anu
/ the midyear seasons come closest
home Of anywhere In the realm OF tne
/ land Of green things. It Is the llttle
| beginnings of the year that attract the
most attention. No one notes the prim-
] rose when the world Is aname with
| tiger lilies and golden poppies In the
| first days that follow the Christmas
| rains 1t is the coat OF grass, fresh and
green over the dull grays and browns
Of the newly dead year that lures one
out of doors at yuletlde.
Christmas indoors in California is'
next to an impossbilty; such ideal
earth, such beautiful skies lure the
wanderer out that he cannot n he
would cling all day to the delights of
the dinner or even of the tree" which
has been brought to the west along
with the remainder of the customs that
| 20 to make ST. NicholasN reign q merry
one i'm the land Of snow and selghbells
! And the seeigh in the west has given
place to the automobile to such an ex-
| tent that the mountain climbs over long
trails that lead almost to snow line are
made in the benzine and steam buggies
every winter Mile on mile of sandy
seashore, packed hard as was ever the
beach at Ormond or Daytona, awaits
the rubber tires OF the touring autos.
In the midst of this, in the heart of
Christmas day, for that matter, the
pleasure seeker can slip from his auto
or from his more humble dog cart to
take a dip in the surf, and find the
water warm and kind to him. Gently
warm streams from the orient sweep in
and soothe what else might have been
chilly sea to slumber I'm happy COM
fort against the golden shore of this,
our Italy.
Promise of caIfornia's Christmas
But if the beauty of California's
Christmas Is great, its promise of days
to come is far greater. There comes a
thrill into all the world "every clod
feels a stir of might, and instinct with
in 1t which reaches and towers, and,
cropping blindly above it for light,
climbs to a soul in the grass and
flowers"
Throughout the carpet Of green
which the rains of the midwinter have
laid the buds of bloom which rival
all the flowers of Cyprus and the Ind,
are just beginning to peep. Here
and there, in the shade of the laurel
sturdy red peonies show red blotches
OF light against the hills On the
colder slopes myriad tiny white flower
cts turn their faces to the sun; violet
plants carpet the northern slopes al
most as thickly as do the blades of
grass, and everywhere the fern-like
fronds of unnumbered California pop
pies spread themselves IS if to catch
every ray of that most golden of suns
later to glid themselves with his aure-
ate dyes.
Here, too grow holly, and mistletoe
at least they who are of the west call
them by these names, though they are
not quite the same as these plants in
the eastern hills. Not all the condi-
ments of Christmas were left with the
snow and the ice in the old home. All
the hills are atlame with scarlet holly
berries now, and around every bush
are gathered hordes of blue-coated
quail, feeding incessantly on the fruit,
sour and bitter as it is.
The mistletoe, while not so beautiful.
nevertheless has it's uses, as every girl
knows-or ought to know. Christmas
is the day of the mistletoe and the
holly, and he who fares forth in the
hills may see the world Of the wild
decorated with these-but if he wait
too long after the holiday the small boy
is very apt to beat him to all the holly
and all the mistletoe, for this is the part
Of the Christmas season. which the
watchful orchin can turn into cash.
Then, too, there are the feathered
songsters of the Christmas days. The
spirit of the spring seems to be just
breaking over the bird of the west
when the midsummer comes. Never do
mocking bords those matchless night
ingales of California, sing sweeter than
then. Hardly does the advent of his
young in the thorny nest start the
male mocker singing as does that first
rain which comes close on Christmas.
Then he is sure that the roseberries
and the pepper berries and the elder
berries will come to fruition in due time
and these ring round his world till
the next Christmas, so why should he
not be happy?