DEBORAH CROMBIE: We are inching towards March, but the days are still short, it’s still cold (although Rhys and Jenn are enjoying gorgeous Arizona February, I’m sure) and most of us are suffering from the mid-winter blahs. Here are a few things, however, that help me through the last doldrums of February.
A wood burning fire! I’ve spent the last two weeks camped out on the living room sofa, convalescing from meniscus repair surgery on my knee, and in that two weeks we went through at least half of our winter’s supply of firewood. But it was so comforting! Having that cheery fire in the hearth made the time feel more like a treat than a pain.
In lieu of a wood burning or gas fire, I light candles. I think our need for a bright flame in the cold must go back to our primal ancestors…
I drink loads of hot tea! Not that I don’t love tea any time, but it really perks me up on a cold, gray afternoon.
Comfy quilts and good books--although these two pretty much go without saying for this bunch.
Fresh flowers, the brighter the better. I tend towards white blooms through December and January, but come February, bring on the hot pink tulips and orange roses. Sunshine in a vase!
I have a jigsaw puzzle on the dining room table, carefully covered to protect it from the cats. Not that I’ve made much progress on it, but it’s a fun little break to look forward to.
And as contradictory as it may seem, it helps to get outside for at least a few minutes a day even when it’s gray and cold. It reminds our bodies that no, we are actually not hibernating.
What about your, dear REDS? Any special tips for beating the last of the winter blues?
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Blankets. I am so big on blankets! I have a wonderful chocolate brown and cream herringbone one that I wear around myself, wrapped like a towel. VERY attractive, I can tell you.
And I so agree--going outside is great. All Ugged and mufflered and mittened. We only have one car, which Jonathan takes on the days I work at home, and I try to still do my walks to the town center to the drug store and post office and bank. And the manicure place, nothing like bright red (or my new love, blue) fingernails! It’s beautiful outside, the sky here can be an amazing blue. And I always have flowers--right now, yellow tulips. I forgot to get paperwhites this year-is there still time? And oh, our little white snowdrops are blooming out in the garden--so nice to see!
And I am SO happy the days are getting longer. You can really tell, right? But I don’t like to wish the time away.
DEBS: Paperwhites! Hank, I saw them at Trader Joe's on Sunday. What a great idea. But I know what you mean about not wanting to wish the time away. And for us, spring is a harbinger of summer and HEAT, so I am trying to savor the cold and dark.
READERS, tell us your tips for coping!
