For the last several weeks in Fresno, visible water has slowed down.

The days are shorter. Mornings have been arriving quietly, regularly blanketed by our famous Tule Fog, while our rivers move a little differently - cooler, calmer, reflective. It’s a season that invites us to pause and notice what sustains us.

Here in California’s Central Valley, water has always been at the heart of our story. Even in winter, when fields rest and canals run slow or stop running altogether, water is still at work - recharging groundwater, supporting fish and riparian habitat, shaping the landscape, and preparing for the seasons ahead.

Christmas is often described as a season of light. But it's also a season of care - of tending, of patience, of quiet preparation. Water teaches us the same lesson. It doesn’t always rush. It supports life steadily and persistently over time.

But even as we talk about the recent calm, California is being reminded once again this year that water doesn’t always arrive quietly.

This week’s storm is part of what meteorologists call a Pineapple Express - a long, narrow band of moisture carried from the central Pacific near Hawaii toward the West Coast. These atmospheric rivers can deliver days’ worth of rain in a matter of hours, flooding streets, filling rivers, replenishing groundwater, and reshaping landscapes almost overnight.

Moments like this help illustrate an important truth we want share through the Fresno Aquarium’s future exhibits and programs: water is both gentle and powerful. It can be reflective and still, or dynamic and overwhelming - often within the same season.

As rain falls across California this Christmas, we are reminded that every drop has a story - quiet at times, forcefully at others, but always essential.

We are deeply grateful to everyone who has supported the Fresno Aquarium project in 2025 - through gifts, encouragement, shared stories, and belief in a long-term vision rooted in education and stewardship. Your support helps ensure that future generations will grow up with a clearer understanding of water, rivers, the ocean and the responsibility we all share.

From all of us, we wish you a peaceful Christmas season filled with gratitude, reflection, and an appreciation for our aquatic world that connects us all.