Well, according to Annie anyway. Most of January and now, halfway through February, Fog is our constant companion. His sisters, Gray Clouds and Snow are also frequent guests. If a body were going to have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), this would be the year. Note: if you’re feeling bluer than usual, sitting beneath a full spectrum light for thirty minutes a day will help. You can do it while reading your stack of gardening magazines and books, which I am sure will make it work even better. {A big smile and a wink.}
In a normal Oklahoma winter, it’s cold, but the sun shines. This is not your average Oklahoma winter. According to Bryan Painter’s Weather Blog and the National Weather Service, as of February 9, 2010, Oklahoma had its 7th highest total annual snowfall at 19.9 inches. Oklahoma City’s average snowfall is 9.5 inches annually. Yesterday, outside Guthrie, we did receive a small amount of snow, and in Norman (about an hour south from my house) two inches fell. My heart goes out to my Texas friends. Wowee! What they’re going through looks like our Christmas Eve blizzard. This is not to underestimate last week’s torrential snow in Washington D.C. and surrounds, but in the south central U.S., we’re just not used to wintry weather like this.
So, with another gray day before me, I decided to trek outdoors and take pictures of vibrant color. Cloudy days are excellent ones for bringing out the rest of nature’s rainbow, and you have no glare from the sun, so that’s a bonus. I saw many young green things popping up here and there, so I know spring is on its way.
Back indoors, I content myself with the African violets, Saintpaulia ionantha and the pressed ones, probably Viola odorata, framed next to my desk. The gardening books help buoy me through the final, few months before spring.
Spring, can you feel it coming?
Nestled in a group of oak trees, I liken my bedroom to a tree house. This morning, I woke to birdsong. Then, Claire (who is off from school today) and I snuggled in bed and watched a garden show rented from Netflix. It was a bit dull, but I loved the segment on the community gardens in New York’s City’s lower east side. Bird song, my sweet girl, and a mug of tea made the day brighter in spite of the lack of light.
What are your coping strategies for the wild weather we’ve had all over the country, along with gray and foggy days in between? Do you go outdoors and take a walk? Do you garden indoors? Let us all know your secrets here or on your blog. Until spring comes, we all need to share.
Note: After I finished this entry, the sun came out, and everyone rejoiced. Also, I received no compensation from any company or affiliation listed herein. However, it they want to send me a SAD light to test and review, I’ll be glad to do it. No problema.
Here in Philadelphia we’re well over the 70″ mark. Snowiest winter in history. When I’m doing well, I choose to focus on how blue the sky looks with snow on the ground instead of how dirty the snow on the side of the road looks. When I’m doing not so well – I find someone with a greenhouse and lots of blooming flowers. Longwood Gardens did the trick today! Kelly
Snuggling on the couch with a movie to watch is my favorite gray-day activity, or reading a good book. But I do work in the garden on some gray days because otherwise when will things get done this winter? it’s determined to be cold and gray this year. A couple of days ago I worked steadily in sleet and found that it beats rain.
If it’s any consolation, you’ve got a lot more green showing than I did during our latest thaw. And we’ve had 51″ of snow this winter season. And we’ve got another month of snow to look forward to before mud season begins.
We were told that today would be sunny and I was crushed to find it overcast yet again when I woke. Like you, I’m accustomed to clear, sunny winter days that make it a pleasure to feel a bit of a winter chill. REAL winter weather is a shock to our systems! Here’s my post from yesterday about something I did to fulfill my creative urges. http://www.mycornerofkaty.com/2010/02/take-heart.html
Ha! I think I could use a SAD light as well! We had snow the last couple of days and it’s still sticking around. Today’s supposed to be sunny but it’s the usual gray. My bulbs (mostly daffs), which last year at this time were starting to bloom, are still just a few inches tall. So my fix is reading – garden blogs, garden books, and my book club book which this time is The Secret Garden (suggested by one starved for spring – me).
Although we haven’t had any snow, it has been cold, raining or windy almost every day. Sometimes all three, like yesterday. If the sun peeks out, I grab the dog and we wander around the yard for a little bit, until we get too cold. Then when we get back inside, I fix some hot chocolate and read gardening blogs or magazines or catalogs, planning what I will do when it gets warm:)
I do feel for you, Dee; this is what our January was like–endless gray days. The sun is shining here now, though it’s quite cold and covered with snow, so I do feel better than on those gloomy days. Gardening books and magazines, seed catalogs, and blogging, of course, have helped me get through this long winter. I guess I should be thankful, too, to Sophie, our Golden Retriever, who gets me moving outside, soaking up some rays quite frequently.
We actually had a couple of sunny days this week, with no wind. Even though it was in the 30’s, it was relatively pleasant. I am thankful that we have been spared what the rest of Va. is going through. I have been catching up on my reading, renting DVDs and am now looking forward to two weeks of Olympics. Maybe by the time they are over, I can get back outside more regularly.
I’ve been spending a lot of time in my iphoto library…Photos that I thought weren’t good enough to share are incredibly beautiful to my color starved eyes;-) I’ve been planning a few projects and hope to be able to get out next week to pick out stained glass to start a few glass on glass projects….Thanks for asking. gail
I agree that just a few minutes of sunshine on these short gloomy days can really lift the spirits. I have been inside most of the time reading, painting and dreaming.