SAD

In just a few days our already short days will seem even shorter. Eastern Daylight Time will revert to Eastern Standard Time, and it will be dark at 5:30pm. Are you ready?
SAD- Seasonal Affective Disorder- is defined by Wikipedia as "... also known as winter depression or winter blues, is a mood disorder in which people who have normal mental health throughout most of the year experience depressive symptoms in the winter."

I am a poster child for SAD. I don't like dark; I don't like being indoors; I don't like desk work. From somewhere in September on I start to calculate the shorter and shorter outdoor evening time. I try to take comfort in cooler weather, or clearer skies, or hints of fall color. But that doesn't really work. After all, how can I enjoy any of that when it gets dark so darn early!
Part of the symptoms include worrying and feeling less than hopeful about the future.
Yeah, I know it's gonna be darker earlier tomorrow!

Wikipedia goes on to explain potential treatments, which include "...bright light therapy, medication, ionized-air administration, cognitive-behavioral therapy and carefully timed supplementation^{[citation needed]} of the hormone melatonin."
Uh, huh....so how does that help anyone living in the real world?

Instead of just worrying about it, this year I am going to try to meet it head on, and fight back. I am making a list of things that I like about winter. I'm getting started here. Please, help me add to the list.

PRACTICAL THINGS THAT LIGHTEN SAD


Daphne odora

-Homemade Onion Soup on a cold rainy day

Winter Light

-Young Winter Vegetable Garden on a cold rainy day


Hellebores

- Time for Pilates Class




fall colors (Lindera angustifolia)

- Fires in the Fireplace

Colorful Conifers in the Cold

-Time for Reading

That's the first 10.

ADD to my list. Let's see if it helps.
Post an idea on the comments section. Let's see if we can get 50 things we like about winter.
Let's lighten the SAD burden.
Once we get to 50, then I'll tell you what the absolute, true 100% reliable cure is.
 Let's go!

"Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn. "

Ipomoea calantha

The first quarter I went to school at UGA in Horticulture I was terrified. I had two young children, and a 65 mile commute from Atlanta. Besides that, I had been a stay at home mom who felt like my brain had turned to mush in the midst of diaper changes, runny noses and sleep deprivation. I wasn't sure I could manage to learn anything, but I knew I needed to try.                                                                                             Acer palmatum 'Japanese Sunrise'

One of the very first assignments I got from Dr. Michael Dirr- my Woody Ornamental Plant professor- was to make a journal of at least 50 plants during the fall. The journal was to note the name, date of coloration, the color itself, and any other distinguishing features. It seemed like a relatively simple assignment, and one I could use as a baby step towards becoming a student again. It was the end of September, and the fall was on it's way. I dove in and began cataloging everything I could find that showed any color at all. Like the kindergardener who loves books but can't read a word, I spent many hours trying to identify my journal entries by every means I could think of. As the weeks went along, I was also actually learning some names and identification characteristics that were helping, and I was filling my pages with dates and names and colors.

I don't remember exactly when things began to click, but as I think back, I realize that this simple assignment was a stroke of genius, and one that hooked me forever. By having to look, I had to learn to look. By learning to look, I had to see all the shades and gradations of colors, the textures those colors make, the structure within the colors.

Muhlenbergia capillaris
Using the wonder of the autumn display, I learned to see "the forest" day by day, and to relish each member and each day. Cotinus x 'Grace'

Since that fall, there's no going back. The change in the way I see is permanent, and is a daily blessing. I have taken many pictures in many fall seasons, and never get enough. I am sharing some of those here with you, but suggest that you take Elizabeth Lawrence's advice:

"Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn. "

I've made my journal. I add to it every day. Take a turn for yourself. You'll be changed forever.


Hydrangea paniculata 'Pink Diamond'

Hydrangea quercifolia 'Amethyst'
Ilex verticillata 'Winter Gold'