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
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Bring along some seeds for any chickadees…
I loved that 🙂
What an interesting post ! How right you are about going out in the open to avoid this Winter blues ! The cool air and even the pale Winter sun will do wonders on your mood and invigorates you. Lovely pictures and great idea, this Winter picnic.
Love the picture of your grandson on his picnic in the woods! What a cutie! And what a special gramma he is blessed to have!
“feeling outdoor light on your face??” Amy, We’ve been married for over 25 years and you still amaze me!! 🙂
Adorable little one. I get out every day to take care of our animals, but I doubt I would (been in the single digits) if it weren’t for that. 😉
Impossible to have Winter Blues with such a winsome woodsprite nearby!
Swaps, the times I’ve forgotten to bring along some seeds for the chickadees, I’ve regretted it as they seem to hover around while we’re picnicking.
Thanks isathreadoflife. I hope you have a chance to enjoy a winter picnic soon too 🙂
Cindy, yes he is a cutie, with some very strong ideas as to the best picnicking spot. We’re lucky to have one another to picnic with 🙂
Wayne, I can’t help it if I can feel the outdoor light on my face…
Yousei, it’s strange what people will do for their animals but not for themselves. So many people go out in the winter to walk their dogs but would never think of doing the same for the sake of their own good health. We are an odd species.
Gerry, you’re so right 🙂 🙂
I love that top picture. There is a beautiful calm in that color. I can imagine the surrounding silence too. Beautiful. Thank you.
Dawn, I agree. There’s just something about that blue light on the winter landscape that’s unlike anything else we see throughout the rest of the year.
I was actually wondering whether you had used some sort of filter on your lens to get that blue light in the top pictures. Is that really what it looked like? Magical… makes me think of the enchanted lands of Narnia, I can almost imagine strange creatures and curious beings hiding among the snowy trees…
Ohhh, and as a fellow lover of outdoor picnics, I cannot agree more! As long as it’s not raining at the time, and as long as there is a warm fireplace with some steaming hot cocoa and a few crunchy chocolate cookies waiting back home, I’m IN!
No I didn’t use any filter or make any other changes to the colour in any photo editing program. It really did look like that in the morning light.
I’m surprised more people don’t do like us Reggie and make time for outdoor picnics in their daily lives. Whether they’re simple or elaborate, they certainly put a sparkle on the day 🙂
How true! How absolutely true!
In my view (as well as hubby’s, fortunately), picnics out in beautiful natural surroundings are the highpoint of a hike up the mountain, or a ramble through the forest, or a stroll on the beach, or a drive across distant mountain passes.
I think what I like so much about outdoor picnics is the fact that, after exerting yourself to get somewhere beautiful or scenic or spectacular, you make the time to sit and to become immersed in your surroundings.
It’s only when we become physically still, that the natural world can work its magic on us, and heal our constant need to strive for and achieve things.
And one starts to notice all kinds of little things, like the tracks left by animals, or little flowers hidden behind rocks, or a lizard sunning itself on a boulder, or a frog burping in a puddle, or the quality of the light as it is filtered through the leaves…
And then, of course, there’s the thermos of steaming tea, the delicious muffins, the juicy nectarines, the crisp grapes, the crunchy apples, or that little square of chocolate that gives you the energy to continue with your hike. Sigh…
Reggie,
yes 🙂 it’s all these things that you’ve described that make picnics so worthwhile. I especially notice the sky and the sounds of the forest.
When we can convince our daughter to keep gloves on her hands, we may start giving these Winter Picnics a go… 😉
Don’t worry about the gloves pepsoid. If it’s cold enough, she’ll be keen to put them on. Holding onto a cup of hot chocolate helps keep little hands warm.
You’re probably right… although my little one is an obstinate one when she wants!