Winter is a difficult time for me, especially now that I am retired. I can’t get outside regularly unless it’s at least 50 degrees, sunny and little or no wind. Those are circumstances that don’t occur all that often around here. So, I tend to get a little more depressed during the winter months.
I watch too much TV. I try to stay away from the news–that’s just insane. There’s not much of interest, even the documentaries are mostly about murder. And if that isn’t depressing, I don’t know what is.
I’ve tried coloring, but the tremors in my hands make that difficult–I can’t stay between the lines. Back to early childhood…
Winter also means I don’t see the kids as often. They ski on the weekends, and my grandson is involved in weekend activities. I know that will only get busier over the years.
I’ve started working on a fb page for a local charity, and will be re-doing their web site. That helps to keep me busy, but I can’t work on anything for too long. My tremors get worse, and the arthritis in my hands gets more painful.
I’ve started re-organizing my photos again. Every time I do this, I find that I want it done another way. I think I’ll stick with this way. I’m organizing by place and date, and adding keywords. It’s tedious, and it’s also hard on my hands. But it’s something productive to do.
I can’t wait for warmer weather. I don’t feel like myself when I can’t get outside. There are some new places I want to visit this spring to take photos of wildflowers. And I will see more birds. I hate that I miss most of the migrating birds during the cold weather. There are so many that I never see except through the photos of others. I keep tabs on what others are seeing and I hope it will warm up for even one day so I can try to see them before they leave. But it seldom works out that way.
OK, enough whining… I need to work on trying to feel better. I think I let myself drown in depression in the winter. I wish there was another way…