Is it winter, or is it home?

It snows in the mountains, but rains at home. Why is it winter? What is it that makes this season something we all know? Sometimes I get so confused living in California, with the green hills, brown desert rocks, bright cold sunshine, icy roads, snowcapped mountains, and frosted trees. How can it all belong in one state, in such close proximity. In the last twenty four hours I've launched down mountains of powdered snow into the desert of Compton's concrete jungle. Sun struggles past snowflakes, and twenty hours later filters through smog and filth. The golden state offers much more than is advertised.