Snow covers the landscape, coating everything with blue in the early morning light. Blue can be beautiful, but it also can also make a frigid day seem even cooler.
With the warm, rich colours of fall a distant memory and spring still many long weeks away, it’s at this time of year that many people suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
Less sunlight and exercise cause many to feel the winter blues. Tiredness and lethargy make some wish they would have gone into hibernation back in the fall. Others get downright depressed. Children become restless too and it becomes more difficult for both young and old to focus on the task at hand.
For people of all ages, perhaps the simplest solution to the winter blues is to go outdoors in the open air and get some exercise. Whether you go for a short walk to the end of the driveway or a stroll around the neighborhood, breathing in the fresh air and feeling outdoor light on your face is a step in the right direction. If there are trees nearby, you’ll also benefit from the extra oxygen they expell.
If you really want to lighten your spirits, and especially those of children, you could try a winter picnic. You don’t need to pack much. A couple of sandwiches, cookies and something warm to drink in a thermos will do. Bring along some seeds for any chickadees you might see flittering in the trees.
You need not stay out in the cold for long. Being out in the natural light surrounded by trees is sure to put you in a different frame of mind. The warmth of the indoors will seem even more enjoyable afterwards.
Now I see the secret to making the best person: it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth.
~ Walt Whitman
