I Think I Have SAD

As winters go, this one hasn't been too bad really. It took a while to get here but once it arrived, it came with a vengeance.

I'll admit, I'm a "Wuss" when it comes to winter. It is my least favourite season of all and despite having lived in a part of the world my whole life, where winter can be evident six or seven months of the year, you'd think I'd be used to it by now. But I'll never be used to it.

There are those who love winter or parts of it. Not a week goes by during the season where I won't run into someone who will admit to "liking the cold but hating the snow", or "liking the snow but hating the cold." I HATE both!

I've already had a mild case of frostbite to a couple of fingers this winter from trying to put air in a tire on my vehicle. That doesn't happen in the summer time. You don't hear people using the term "Wind-chill" in August. I don't know about you, but I don't enjoy going outside to pick-up the recycle box and in the time it takes me to walk to the curb and back, I have a "snot icicle" hanging from my nose. Sorry if that grosses you out but I'm not too happy about it either.

I also don't enjoy shoveling the snow from the driveway only to have the plow come by two minutes after I've finished to fill it back in again. I throw my winter clothes back on and go out to clean it up. After coming back inside, you can guarantee the sidewalk plow will be by to dump even more back into the driveway.

My sister-in-law Erin came to Canada for Christmas and was dying to see snow since she was raised in Florida and never had the chance to experience it. Luckily for her she did get to see a minor snowfall and was able to make a snowman and a snow angel. I think it was about minus 3 and we got a couple of centimetres. I'd like to officially invite her to come stay up here for the month of February when we go through stretches of days or weeks where the temperature doesn't rise above minus 14 and at night we see lows of minus 25 or worse without the windchill. Stand outside in the howling wind and try to shovel in that and then tell me it looks "pretty". Trust me...it's not that pretty then. I'm just bugging her of course and I'm sure she believes me when I say, she ain't seen nothing yet.

I'm positive I'm suffering from SAD. at this point. For those of you who don't know what that is, it stands for Seasonal Affective Disorder. It is a winter mood disorder. Most SAD sufferers experience normal mental health throughout most of the year, but experience depressive symptoms in the winter.

I'm not the type to go to the doctor so I've prescribed for myself the only cure I can think of and that's a vacation to Florida. Unfortunately my vacation isn't going to happen until after February so with my luck winter will end in March and I'll be feeling much better before I go. Oh well, I'm sure the time away will still be good for me. There's nothing like a round of golf in the Sunshine State or a day at the ballpark to watch a Spring Training game to help lift my spirits.