Thursday, June 23, 2011

Winter is Coming

There’s something romantic about changing seasons.  Change is good, usually; the changing of leaves in the falls, the bursts of fresh green and flowers in the spring.  Except that colorful leaves and spring flowers are probably the shortest seasonal periods there are, maybe a couple weeks each.  The summers are hot and short and the winters are very cold and very long.
This short burst of summer is a tricky thing.  You have the warm weather that brings grass and flowers and trees and unfrozen waters.  Longer days so you wake up to sunlight instead of darkness.  The abundance of light leaves you feeling awake, fills you up with vitamin D.  It brings local produce; fresh fruit and vegetables are more affordable and taste better.  You can go outside without a jacket, skirts and short and dresses and cute shoes are suddenly viable options in your wardrobe.  Spending time outside almost always involves some form of exercise, walking, running, swimming and hiking.  So, during our brief summer we eat better, exercise more, look better and have more energy.
Then our 7 months of winter come and the days get shorter, colder and darker.  Everyone spends their time bundled up scurrying from one indoor environment to the other.  There are moments in winter that are beautiful, but for the most part it’s pretty miserable.  This type of seasonal pattern is the perfect storm for depression.   Everyone cooped up, cold and tired.
Summer is like a sugar high; a short intense rush of feeling fantastic followed by long low.  I’m watching Game of Thrones on HBO, and one of the families is from the North, and their motto is: Winter is coming.  The rain has stopped (fingers crossed, knock on wood) and it’s time to take advantage of this short burst because it won’t last long.

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