The high school indoor sports seasons are underway. And there are plenty of contests left in the 2020 portion of their schedules. So hopefully Santa will bring some Christmas presents in the form of wins. The Tiger mat team has had some individual placements in its first couple of outings and their girls and boys basketball team has had some early signs of success.

Meanwhile, the North Central Thunder hoops teams will hopefully get a visit from Santa as well, and coincidentally North Central was actually slated to host Ipswich in a girls/boys twin-bill at Eureka last evening (Tuesday, Dec. 15).

Our weather was starting to feel much more like winter sports time. But with climate change seemingly in progress, there is often no clear trend regarding the rest of the calendar year and even into the New Year. A lot of that, of course, depends on how much snow there is on the ground, which can certainly make it feel somewhat colder than otherwise.

And speaking of presents, you amateur astronomers should be really happy. One present was the Geminid meteor shower. The peak time has passed, but there may still be a meteor or two. Then the paths of two planets — Jupiter and Saturn — will nearly align appearing to be one “Christmas Star.” This event is something that has not been seen for 800 years they say.