I have lived on Cape Cod for seven years and find the winters here very depressing.  I am now convinced that I suffer from Seasonal Affect Disorder.  I have never ever experienced the Eeyore blues as I do here when I am deprived of sunlight and warmth.  The ground is frozen.  The trees have no leaves and I am the only splash of color in this gloomy gray landscape.  I have had a hard time grappling with this because I have never experienced these feelings before.  As spring arrives, instantly the dark veil of gloom is lifted.  It is replaced by robins in my yard pulling worms from the ground, glorious buds on the ends of branches swelling with new life, and beautiful hints of flowering bulbs waking from the icy ground.

I am convinced that over time, people become acclimated to a certain climate.  I also think it is much harder to adapt the older we get. Change is never easy.  Even my husband, a native New Englander, now sees the winters as being a little more difficult than they were when he was a kid.  It’s days like these when the snow has begun to fall, yet again, that I yearn for that old warm southern California.  However, this winter was different.

Usually, I fall victim to the blues around the end of November.  This year, it has been mid-February.  I think it has a lot to do with the chickens.  I look forward to waking up and greeting the chickens each morning.  Now they are the burst of color on the gloomy landscape during the Winter.  They constantly entertain me and keep me smiling.  I love it when they talk to me.  I love it when Oyster Cracker is so excited at the prospects of getting treats that she jumps enthusiastically into my lap.  I love feeling warm fresh eggs in my hands.  I love hearing Chocolate crow.  It took me a little while to piece this all together.  In years past, I had considered getting a special light box to sit under.  I now know that it is not necessary.