Can We Bypass Winter?
Winter officially begins in less than a week.
The calendar tells us the first day of winter for 2016 will arrive Wednesday, Dec. 21. However, to some of us at least, it seems like it has already been here for months.
The recent time change, which leaves us with far too few daylight hours, combined with the colder temperatures along with the more common dreary skies of late, have left yours truly longing for March 20, 2017, when the first day of spring will finally arrive.
In recent years I have battled an opponent known as Seasonal Affective Disorder, ironically called SAD. The main cause is a lack of sunlight. It’s not something that I had to deal with until my late 30s, but it seems to continue to get worse with each passing year.
I began writing about my battle with Seasonal Affective Disorder a few years ago and was amazed at the response I got from readers. As it turns out, I am not alone in my battle as numerous people also deal with this personal crisis and some have done so for much longer than I have.
I first noticed it during long rainy spells. I moved to my current location about 20 years and it seems that a constant rain cloud moved with me. In talking with my father about the weather here in Monticello, he always asks me about the rain and how much we are getting in Winder where I live.
“It’s rained here all week,” I often say.
His response would be, “We haven’t gotten a drop.”
I’ve always considered that strange since we are only separated by 60 miles. Once during a rainy stretch in 2015 the weatherman actually said (more than once) that the state was clear except for Winder where I live. No kidding. I actually began to wonder if it was just raining at my house.
In the fall of 2015 we had a particularly long rainy spell where we had precipitation every day for well over a month at my house. That may seem odd to those who remember the recent dry spell from the fall of 2016 but for someone who battles Seasonal Affective Disorder that rainy streak was beyond tough to deal with.
My parents even bought me a unique lamp, which puts off a special kind of light similar to the rays of the sun. While it does help to some degree, nothing is going to completely replace the rays of sunshine with a clear, blue sky as a background.
The recent time change also makes it tough for people who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. For me, I leave my house for work in the mornings before daylight. By the time I arrive back home I have maybe 15 minutes of daylight before it gets dark. My job is also one where I sit in an office with no window.
On some days I may get to go outside for a walk (and I do try to do that if the weather and my work schedule permits) but there are certain days when it is not possible due to the weather or other work-related commitments.
That lack of exposure to the sun (combined with leaving home before the sun comes up and arrives home just before it goes back down) adds to the battle with the disorder.
SAD is a common ailment for those who live in Alaska where there’s less daylight or in the Pacific Northwest where it rains a majority of the time.
Unfortunately, there aren’t many known cures for it. Some people take various medications but their effectiveness is not always guaranteed. For me, the best medicine is to survive the winter months and get to spring. The warmer days and longer daylight hours are the natural cure, almost a magical one.
So even though winter has not even officially started, I am already looking forward to it being over. For me, and others who share my battle, the first day of spring may seem light years away, but we are all eagerly counting down the days to more sun and more daylight. I assure you March 12, 2017 — the day when we “spring forward” again — is also marked on my calendar.
Monticello native Chris Bridges is a long-time newspaper columnist. He welcomes feedback from readers of The Monticello News at pchrisbridges@gmail.com.