I live in the Pacific Northwest where the weather is mild. We don’t really get super-cold winters, but what we do get is grey wet days that go on for weeks. The sun may peek out occasionally, but generally it is foggy, grey, wet, grey and, well…grey. Now that my kids are older we don’t seem to suffer from cabin fever the same way we used to—but I can remember days when we lived in the Midwest (Indiana and Illinois) where we might be stuck indoors for days—driving each other kooky!
I have a friend who has moved to Sweden with her young family (two preschool-age kids) this past year and she is coping with the very short days and long, extended darkness that is characteristic of more Northern locations. They escaped to Spain for the holidays to get a well-needed dose of sunshine and daylight. I’m eager to hear if attitudes and health have improved some after the holiday injection.
Meanwhile, even with the mild temperatures, I’m feeling the grey lull here in the Pacific Northwest. I feel a little envious of my wealthier and less tied-down friends and acquaintances that are able to jet off to the sunshine, and while away the winter in more exotic and temperate climes. I can see my kids are getting a little irritated by the abundance of wet and dreary as they bicker a bit, and mope and lounge about watching movies and MTV reality shows. It can be hard to maintain perspective, purpose and even muster the slightest bit of peppy-ness as one goes from home to work to the store and back again day after day in the dreary drizzle of a West coast January.
I am grateful that I am no longer at home in the deepest darkest months with a trio of toddlers—although a day of play-dough and finger paint may be just the dose of color I need in these hibernating days of winter!