By Mary O’KEEFE

I know I should be writing about the COP28 (United Nations Climate Change Conference). This is the conference in which countries around the world discuss how to best address climate change. The conference was this month and, in the end, there was an agreement that signals the “beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era, according to the conference.

In one aspect, this is a monumental agreement since it appears everyone is on the same path as far as fossil fuels go – or at least in the same vicinity; however, the world’s reaction to climate change seems to be teetering on semantics. Should they agree to phase “down” or phase “out.” Ah, that is the question. These two phrases may seem similar but in the world of fossil fuels and a country’s dedication to working on climate change, they could not be more different. However, because we are a few days from Christmas, I thought looking toward this holiday may be better than getting into the weeds with COP28, at least for now.

The winter solstice is today at 7:27 p.m. PST. During this day all locations north of the equator will see daylight shorter than 12 hours and all locations south will see daylight longer than 12 hours, according to NASA.

In ancient times, the days growing shorter were a mystery that was answered with spirituality. A Celtic myth has that on the solstices of each year the Oak King, representing light, and the Holy King, representing the dark, would fight. The Oak King emerged as the victor at the winter solstice, allowing light to return.

It is believed that the solstice was celebrated with a party – not a surprise as the Celts still love a good celebration; however, it was more than just food, drink and dance. Winters were tough for the ancient population that depended on the Sun returning to grow crops. So the solstice was a turning point, a time when the Sun would return, a rebirth and a time of hope … sound familiar?

I think for some, this rebirth and time of hope has been forgotten in our ever- growing Christmas lists. Over the years what was once the foundation of hope and rebirth seems to have gotten lost. I can only speak for Christmas because that is what I celebrate, but it would not surprise me that other celebrations during this time of year have also strayed from their origins.

But one of those origin stories has endured, although it has changed dramatically over the years. The story of Santa Claus, which was truly inspired by St. Nick.

Nicholas was a real person who lived in the third century. He was born in the area that is now on the southern coast of Turkey, but during his time was a part of Greece making him Greek. He was a bishop and was part of a massive transition in the Christian faith. He was known as a generous and kind man. But one story seems to be the best example of who he was and why his story has endured over centuries.

After the death of his wealthy parents, he inherited a large sum of money. Nicholas learned of a man who lived in his village who had three daughters. He did not have any money to offer as dowries to any suitor so his daughters’ futures were in question. There were not many options for poor young women; they would most likely have been sold into slavery or prostitution if not for Nicholas. He took some of his gold, put it in a bag and tossed it through the window of the father’s home in the middle of the night, thus allowing one daughter to marry. He did this two other times; according to some accounts on one of the times the window was locked so he threw the bag down the chimney where it just so happened to land in a stocking that was drying by the fire.

He did all this in the quiet of darkness; however, the father stayed up that last night and saw Nicholas. The word began to spread and others, including nuns from a local church, began to make small presents for children, leaving them at their home at night. Others would then take up the practice, but this didn’t happen on Dec. 24-25. It was on Dec. 6, the day of Nicholas’ death in the year 350 AD. That is known as St. Nicholas Day or Feast of St. Nicholas.

Our American Santa Claus came much later – in the 19th Century. It was brought to America in part because Europeans were homesick and wanted a tradition to bring to their new country.

Over the years, the Santa image has gone through several transitions. In some descriptions he is a tall, thin man with a green coat; in others he is more of an elf-like creature. Some say the image we now know as Santa was credited to a 1931 Coca Cola advertisement that featured the jolly old man with the red coat and the full white beard … of course, he was enjoying a bottle of Coke … but I think the image that stayed with us is from 1823. That is when “The Night Before Christmas” was released.

Now, as is found in most things, there is controversy over who actually wrote this story, but I lean more toward Clement Clark Moore. It was actually a poem titled “A Visit from St. Nicholas” that Moore had written for his children. A friend sent it to a newspaper editor who published it without the author’s permission. Moore didn’t publicly claim authorship until 1844. It was included in a poetry book he had authored.

This is the image I see in my head when I think of St. Nick – with the “beard of his chin was as white as the snow.”

I think, now more than ever, we need to remember why we celebrate Christmas, the winter solstice, St. Nicholas and all that goes with this season. As we go through this darkest day of the year, it is important to believe, as our ancestors did before us, there will be light and hope for the future.

We have seen rain all week, sometimes only a drizzle, but that was supposed to change last night into today so our winter solstice will be a wet one.

“We are expecting hard rain later Wednesday night into Thursday morning, continuing into Friday and then tapering off,” said Mike Wofford, meteorologist with NOAA Oxnard.

Wofford said there doesn’t look to be significant winds; however, today may see some thunderstorms that could cause winds with gusts as high as 25 mph.

He added it is not unusual to see rain during this time of year but the amount of rain, possibly over two inches in the area, is a little unusual.