Look Out Winter

If you live near the Canadian border and do not know what S. A. D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is, or do not believe in S. A. D., please go read someone else's blog about pink ponies and have a nice day. Last winter I had S. A. D. I was sad, but I also had S. A. D. I was taking a cancer prevention drug that makes one more prone to S. A. D.

Then, mid winter, my mom died. Not sure exactly what caused it, but now I know what it's like to have it. It passed and now I am much better. However, not wanting to go through that again, with the recent passing of the Fall Equinox, I've been studying daylight with much more interest this year, monitoring my mood as we here up north begin our plunge toward the very short days of the third week in December.

Never one to leave anything of interest not completely examined, I got to wondering about what I missed while daydreaming in astrology class. What causes the earth to have seasons? Time for a visit to Youtube in search of an explanation:  Sun Earth Seasons. Oh, that's why it gets dark at 4:00 pm. Okay, not so terrible. No big mystery. I like science, it is much less scary than the alternative.

This year I'm being proactive. I'm armed with no more cancer prevention, estrogen neutralizing drugs on board, yay! Also in the arsenal are a "happy light", 5000 units of Vitamin D a day (yeah, yeah, yeah, I saw that report too but I'm not ready to give it up), walking, more fruits and vegetables (no, really), less alcohol (not sure about that one), a full size Lazy Boy couch, a big screen TV, a stack of good books, a gargantuan knitting project, permission to get in bed at nine pm (never thought that would sound good), and enough money in the bank to buy a ticket to Mexico if all of the above mentioned do not work.

Winter, prepare to have your ass kicked.

Stress reduction is another weapon in the arsenal this year, so I'm walking. Walking early in the morning and immediately after work is illuminating. One becomes instantly aware of how much light is in the sky at 7:00 am and again at 7:00 pm, the time the evening walk usually ends. You see, it's all about paying attention.

Already I've learned a couple of things by talking about the quality of light... to others and by simply observing Autumn. First observation? Sometimes it's sunny in the Fall. That's a good thing, a very good thing. Second observation? The trees here really do change color in the Fall, something to be celebrated as apposed to the alternative of not noticing and walking around in a "head down, here comes winter again, life sucks" funk.

You see, that's the other thing I'm armed with this year as we head into winter. An attitude adjustment. The panacea everyone likes to talk about that often is not enough on it's own. But mingled with many other tools? It really can make a difference. Just look, I only used the word "suck" once in this post. Now that's progress. See you around, and try not to be S. A. D.