Commentary: Commentary: Merry Christmas! Wish you were here?

At 8:30 one morning this week, when huge swathes of the northern hemisphere were about to have a gray Christmas, I hiked past a fresh green bush just above Route 2 a few miles from Foothill Boulevard with the temperature at 61 degrees Fahrenheit and captured on my camera a swarm of gnats cavorting as if it were spring.

Can you see them? No? Neither can I, but they are there all right. The sunshine, the blue sky and the calmness are quite clear, however. As a Christmas greeting I am sending the photo to people from around the world who commiserated with us about the wildfires and mudslides and destructive winds and telling them I hope the fog, sleet, hailstorms, drizzle, rain and incessant cold aren’t getting them down.

Reg Green lives in La Cañada. His website is www.nicholasgreen.org.