When my daughter Andrea flew to see me for a fast pre-Christmas visit, Florida had a present for her that she can’t get in her town - balmy 82-degree temperatures.

With summerlike temperatures and a gentle breeze each day, it was perfect beach weather.

“I can see why you enjoy living here,” she said at the beach.

But when we were getting ready for our community Christmas parade she remarked that it seems strange to be celebrating the Christmas season without cold weather and maybe snow.

It’s a common reaction for those from northern climates. When I first moved here my neighbor said she was tempted to throw in the canal the next person who said, “It doesn’t seem like Christmas.”

Well it’s true that for us northern transplants the song “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” doesn’t apply.

I think the strangest Christmas sight for me was seeing an authentic looking Santa on the beach wearing a spandex-like bathing suit. He was riding on a golf cart handing out candy to all the kids.

When I was blessed enough to get to know Santa’s story I learned he is a senior citizen who struggles to pay his rent and has very little in wordly possessions. But what he does have is a big heart and a genuine love of children.

He said he puts a little aside each month from his Social Security check so he can afford to buy a bulging sack of candy to hand out to the kids during the Christmas season.

When we ran a little story on him in our local newspaper others were touched by his giving heart. Someone donated a true Santa suit to him and many other gave him stacks of candy and treats for the kids. He ignited the spirit of Christmas in all of us.

One of my favorite Christmas traditions in our southwest Florida community is the lighting of the gazebo and the lighted boat parade.

While many seashore communities have boat parades with big sailboats and yachts elaborately decorated, they parade in open water on the bay. Crowds gather wherever they can see a glimpse of the boats.

What makes our community different is its modest scope. There are no yachts or sailboats, just pontoon boats filled with merrymakers. The lighted boats parade down all the many canals in our community lined with happy residents.

When my friend Andy started the boat parade 12 years ago, some people laughed at the thought of doing a parade through the narrow canals. One fellow called the small canals “nothing but spittoons.” But the joke turned out to be on him because the lighted boats parading through the canals are a highlight of the Christmas season for many of us.

In our small community about two thousand people gather on shore to share cookies and hot chocolate and watch the lighting of the gazebo.

In a diverse community with differing views, some lobby against signs that say Merry Christmas.

The volunteers who decorate the gazebo erect a huge sign with just one word: Believe.

Isn’t that perfect? No one could fight about the sign.

We each are free to interpret it any way we want.

For me, it represents my belief that Christmas started thousands of years ago when a baby changed the world and changed our destiny.

This year my daughter and I were happy to have seats in the lead boat during the lighted boat parade.

It was definitely a spiritual moment for me when I saw the word Believe towering over the waterways.

As I sat there basking in the Christmas music and in the warm fellowship of my boat buddies, my heart was filled with so many things in which I believe.

I believe it’s Jesus, not Santa Claus, that is the true Christmas star.

I believe that He is the embodiment of love.

I believe when I am hurting, lost or confused, the antidote can be found in that love.

I believe that Christmas is more than a day, more than celebrating a holiday with our favorite traditions.

I believe that it doesn’t matter if you celebrate Christmas in the cold north or in the sunny south. All that matters is that you celebrate Christmas in your heart.

I believe that it’s wonderful if you can celebrate Christmas in church. But it’s more important to carry “church” in your heart.

I believe that church isn’t in a building or in any one faith. Church is the goodness you can bring to your world.

I believe we don’t have to have money or power to make the world better. I believe we all can be candles in the darkness for others. We all get the chance to do that every day in so many small ways.

A man who lost his beloved wife of 51 years took her wheelchair and carried it in the back of his car. He sometimes has to choose between buying all his medication or splurging on the beef roast he wants. But he won’t try to sell his wife’s wheelchair.

Instead, he carried it in his car until he met a women who needs a new wheelchair but can’t afford it.

I believe that in this season of gift giving, the best gifts can’t be wrapped in boxes. They are the small gifts of love you give away.

Contact Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net.