Gloomy weather and ER

[Meadbh]

SAD is definitely a thing. I have had a tendency to suffer from it since my 20s. It doesn’t happen every year, and I did get it while w*rking. A light box helps, but the best therapy is a trip to somewhere sunny. I’m now making this a regular feature of my winter, for the good of my health. This past winter has been a very long one. It started with a big dump of snow on November 2nd and is only now going away. My two week winter break was in January, and we have since had two more months of winter. Next year, I will take a longer trip!

 

[Music Lover]

We have short days in winter up here and I make a point of it when indoors to have all the curtains open from sunrise to sunset. If not going out I spent as much of the day as possible in the living room as it had the most natural light. Also, prior to my basement renovation when I added windows, I avoided spending time down there during the day unless absolutely necessary. If there was only going to be 8 hours of daylight, I wanted to be exposed to all 8 hours.

I never had SAD and those were only small steps, but every bit helps.

 

[kcowan]

When working, I moved to Vancouver to escape the grey miserable weather in Toronto. It worked ok because there were always periods of sunny relief and I worked inside under fluorescent lights. When I retired, I realized how dreary the place can be for months at a time. So we escape to Mexico for 5 months.

This year the weather is amazing and we might defer our return beyond the end of April.

 

[omni550]

I think you have it about right, Omni. Where in Florida do you go? We are probably going to give the Crystal River area a try next winter (first time we've stayed there). I like to fish from my kayak, so I'm hoping there is some good fishing in that area.

RAE,

I go to SW FL (Estero, between Naples and Ft. Myers). Lots of activities, lectures, seminars, theater, beaches, kayaking, hiking, bicycling, etc. With the huge influx of snowbirds, I've been able to make a number of seasonal friends quite easily.

As I am single and have no roots in MI (moved there for my job), at times I really felt stuck there in the winter months. At least in the summer and fall, I can be outdoors. Plus, I found that it's harder to make friends in Michigan as everyone seems to be working and has family around and/or their friends from grade school, so they're much less interested in adding to their social networks.

omni

 

[48Fire]

I think you have it about right, Omni. Where in Florida do you go? We are probably going to give the Crystal River area a try next winter (first time we've stayed there). I like to fish from my kayak, so I'm hoping there is some good fishing in that area.

Great kayak fishing in Crystal River area