The Winter Doldrums

Doldrums: a spell of listlessness or despondency

I suppose that is being a bit dramatic, but the Winter Blahs have definitely set in.

Around these parts, spring weather is unpredictable - storms one moments & blazing sunshine the next. Summertime is known for being hot & humid. So humid it seems like you have to wring the water out of the air before you breathe it. Forget having neat, straight hair; there is no flat iron on earth that can compete with Indiana's summer humidity. The autumn is full of crisp days with sparkling blue skies. The blue of the sky is almost unbelievable, like pictures of the Caribbean Sea.
And then there's winter. *sigh* Lately we have had day upon day upon day of gray weather. It's like twilight all day long. And we have been having fairly regular snow storms. In fact, one is supposed to blow in tomorrow. And dump like 4-6 inches. I will believe it when I see it. I am in forecast denial.
Yesterday I had to make a delivery for work. This time of the year I would almost give up vacation time in order to dodge making an out of town delivery (as in, " You need me to go where? I suddenly remember that I need the rest of the day off - I have plenty of vacation time!"). Last week in a snow storm I may or may not have listened to the entire sound track from 'Mary Poppins' in order to distract myself from the terror of driving in a snow storm. I also may or may not have snorted very loudly with the pig during the song "It's a Jolly Holiday With Mary." All I can say is, you do what you've got to do. Yesterday I wasn't feeling quite so nervous because by some freaky chance, the temperature was well above freezing (almost 40 degrees!). It was raining a little bit but nothing scary. All the moisture & warmer temps had caused a haze to form that just magnified the grayness of the day. I turned the defrost on full blast but my car's little blower isn't capable of defrosting the great outdoors. I wasn't in a hurry so I decided that I would just relax & enjoy the ride.
And that's what I did. The hospital I was delivering to is a small town hospital & the roads there are all two lane country roads. After a while I got used to the haze hanging in the air & surprised myself with all of the things that I saw that I have never seen before on this lifelong familiar road. Houses peeked out at me through the winter bare tree branches. Farm dogs ran alongside me in the ditches as I drove by. Hawks like this guy below perched on fence posts with their feathers all puffed out making them look twice their size & as if someone had majorly offended them.

Seriously, they are such beautiful birds but when they are all puffed up like this I think they just look angry! Like they are seriously irritated that it is so cold & damp & gray outside. Perhaps I am projecting my own attitudes upon the hawks? No, that can't be...

This winter I am on a quest to try to not let the Winter Blahs or Doldrums take ahold of me. Since snow days & sledding at the city park are no longer part of my winter routine I will have to continue to look for things that make winter less of a drag. Taking note of puffed up hawks & whatever else I can find to laugh at will just have to get me through!