Blessings of this Season

The first day of winter. Dark early, light late, usually cold and gray. My most un-favorite time of the year. But this year, that turning point has come quickly, and easily. The weather has been gloriously mild, mostly sunny, and sprinkled with good rain.
It is also a busy time of year. I can usually get lost in the hustle and bustle of friends, family, shopping, gifts, visiting, cooking, and working. If I am honest, much of that busyness is in the service of avoiding the dark. This fall has been so much more mellow than others that I am trying to take some time to reflect a bit on the year, and to enjoy the gifts that surround me. I thought I might just share a few here.

Chimonanthus praecox

Chuck's Blue Sport

Heron Fountain, Huntsville Botanical garden

Huntsville Botanical Garden RR

Jasminum nudiflorum

Evergreen Acer

Mahonia x 'Winter Sun'

Pinus thunbergii 'Ogon' candle

Prunus mume 'Rosebud'

Pinus virginiana 'Wate's Golden'

LOOK AND SEE

This morning at waterside, a sparrow flew

to a water rock and landed, by error, on the back

of an elder duck; lightly it fluttered off, amused.

The duck, too, was not provoked, but, you might say, was

laughing.

This afternoon a gull sailing over

our house was casually scratching

its stomach of white feathers with one

pink foot as it flew.

Oh Lord, how shining and festive your gift is to us, if we

only look, and see.

Mary Oliver, from Why I Wake Early

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!