Yes, I am one of the guys who gets winter depression. I am going to seek volunteer things next year. I am leaving my p/t job of 8 yrs at Franklin Square. Great Job, Great People but the whole thing is getting boring. Oh yes, God will keep his promise of Spring. I see crocus, johnie jump-ups and pussy willows. Buds starting to swell, lots of green grass and unfortunately lots of green weeds also. Yes Faerieannette there will be a springtime. Steve in Baltimore County

I get SAD pretty bad. I can manage with various techniques I've learned over the years but I still hate winter. I do get a real high in the spring, though, when I walk the gardens nearly every day and find new sprouts. It always seems a miracle that things can survive a winter outdoors.

I've gotten into indoor gardening in a big way and that really helps take the edge off of winter. Grow lights are awesome.

Steve, out here in Carroll County I'm just seeing lots of white still, but I saw a patch of mud and grass on the front lawn this afternoon. Woo hoo!

I'm another that gets a mild case of SAD as soon as it starts getting dark early. I honestly believe that light therapy helps. I needed to winter over a number of plants inside my house this year and invested in a couple 1000 watt metal halide HID lights. I noticed a definite improvement in my mood when I spent a lot of time in the plant room and I'm spretty sure it has to do with the high intensity lights. Friends that also suffer from winter depression have noticed an improvement when they are in the plant room too. I'd still rather be working in the yard but anything that helps, even a little bit, I'll take.
Karyn

I actually think the SAD helps me to take better care of my plants - I am very, very aware of how the light changes from season to season or even week to week, and I just kind of automatically adjust my watering accordingly. And I'm always trying to get them more light. I end up "thinking like a plant". Maybe I'm a human x plant hybrid? ;)

Getting outdoors once or twice a day for even a half an hour walk can help tremendously. The sun is still there, just not as strong. Since I've had dogs to walk, I don't have that mild winter depression that seems related to lack of light. Last week when things were too frozen to safely go for walks, I felt that twinge of unhappiness that I used to feel in long winters. Agree that seedlings on light tables or in gh are wonderful therapy :-)

Ah yes, I thought it was just me. I had convinced myself there was no "real winter" here and then POW!!!! These couple of sunny days really helped to recharge my batteries but I don't like the wind at all.
In Fairbanks, the hours of sun were short but reflected off the snow made the light intense and people did a lot of stuff outside. Here it is a raw damp windy cold. (like I'm telling you all something you didn't know) Not very pleasant and I may try lights for next year.
Hang in there. Spring will come. I am forcing pussy willows and they look so fresh and cheerful.

Getting out for walks definitely helps. I've done the grow lights - helped my plants but not me a whole lot! I bought a SAD light and that definitely helped, but once I got a job leaving early in the morning, I just couldn't make time to sit in front of the light before work. At the moment I am using a combination of exercise and St. John's wort and doing pretty well.

Hang in there folks, we can do it! Spring is right around the corner (after today's ice storm (again))! Be patient (sp), as walking on wet grass and frozen soil is my common mistake. I'd rather spend my time working in the garden instead of fixing grass that I messed up!

There seems little doubt that more light helps many people. After retirement, though, I began to learn about the many plants that, by form, foliage, or flowering and berry time, could brighten my garden and now there are not too many days pass that I cannot walk around and see something new.
Evergreens of diverse shapes and colors, Hamamelis, Mahonia, Arum italicum, Asarum europeum and on and on. I have ordered some Camellias and have had Lonicera fragrantissima blooming. Crocus are in the rock garden as well as the Galanthus. Also, the little bird-brains at the feeding station obviously don't have the intelligence to feel depressed.

This winter has seemed a bit more depressing for me, too-I think that the week spent at home w/ the kids during the ice storm, my son breaking his arm sledding, & my patio tent collapsing under the weight of the snow/ice (all night long, I kept thinking I needed to go out & clear it off, but I just couldn't rouse myself)contributed to this.

And just when I thought it was over, we get the slush storm today-oh well, when things melted on Friday, I had crocuses blooming in the front, so surely spring is coming...

On Saturday I sure had the feeling that spring was on the way. I was out in the garden taking measurements and playing around with stakes and an electrical cord to get ideas for a new bed that I would like to create. It seemed like just a matter of days until I could get other there and start smothering the grass...but it looks like it will have to wait a little while.

I have been winter sowing and I have still been adding kitchen waste to the mostly frozen compost bins. At least I feel like I am doing something to help out my garden, even if I am not out there enjoying it. It does make me feel a lot better now that the days are getting longer.

On a related note...starting this year we get a few (4 I think) extra weeks on Daylight Saving Time. That is fine with me because I would much rather have the extra light in the evening. Of course I could just wake up earlier, but what fun would that be?

- Brent

I am very unhappy about the extra Daylight Savings Time. Just when I start getting up in the not pitch dark, I have to start getting up in the pitch dark again. Starting seeds is cheering, though.

I don't think I ever properly appreciated Winter until I got dogs. They are such maniacs in cooler weather, and it always brings a smile to my face to watch the running, wrestling fools. And, it is wonderful to go on nice long hikes. Beautiful scenery, a little bit of an adventure and lots of solitude.

Pan in the snow:

Khan at his happiest:

Beautiful pics of your puppies in snow! My dog, who is getting old, he'll be 13 this year, loves to go out & roll in it, & chase squirrels...

My dogs love the snow, too, but boy is it disgusting when it melts into mud.

I must buck the norm. I dislike sunlight, thrive when it rains, and could easily love in Seattle. I get deeply depressed in late July, mid-August when the sun is its most evil. You'll never see me retire to Florida.

I walk my gardens in the spring, too. I have 4'' daffodils and stuff coming up. I love the morning routine!

As far as not having winter? Imagine me shaking my head. We have winter. It's called "One Week in February." It happens each year. As a matter of fact, for the past 3 years I've pet sit for someone and each time there was a storm, my husband at home lost power, and then it was gone.

Once in a great while, we'll have a storm in November or early December. Don't count on it! :)
C.

C., there is actually a Reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder, sounds somewhat like what you describe (of course, you could just dislike heat and bright sun!).

Seattle is a great city, my husband would love to live there but I could never take it.

There's nothing my husband enjoys more than cool rainy weekends. Not me, I hate it. I think he likes it because it gives him an excuse to veg out on the couch and watch TV all day. lol

My dog also loves the snow. Her favorite thing is catching snowballs. She also enjoys swimming in warm weather but absolutely hates the rain. She'll hold off going out to do her business for a full day if it's even drizzling. Weird dog!
Karyn

Yea, I agree about the heat of the sun during the summer. It can be just as hard to get out on a hot a muggy summer day as a cold and windy winter day. My wife loves beach vacations and she would love to lie in the sun for hours. I get uncomfortable after about 10 minutes in the sun so I head for the shade. I like the long summer days because I can sneak out into the garden before work and even sometimes after the kids head to bed.

I lived in Seattle (actually Redmond and Bellevue) for over 3 years. The summers are wonderful...sunny and warm but not hot. The winters can be a bit gray but they seldom get snow and the "rain" tends to be more of a mist. I am not sure that we got a thunderstorm in the time I lived there...though I did get to experience a minor earthquake.

- Brent

Depressing or not we have kicked off the year by pruning water shoots out of the pear tree (last time for that) and cleaning up some pine needles and cones that escaped the rake last fall. Margaret has some coreopsis, bachelor buttons and gomphrena coming on in mini-greenhouse in bay window. Also some green onions coming on in a pot. I have ageratum and flax under lights for the spring swap. Keeping busy seems to help fight off the depression blues. Steve in Baltimore County

Reverse SAD? I've been vindicated!

Brent, my grandmother was born in Redmond and my uncle is now in Seattle. It would be heaven for me. I garden at night, actually. When I can get my husband to help me, we do it by F-250 headlights. :)

My trees all have buds. Even the tiny Japanese Maple saplings that the rabbits bit off roughly above the graft. They're hardly little suckers. :)

We're having our rain that always preceeds spring. Every year, just like February being winter, we get a good, strong rain and off we go! Yeah!!

Christine

Today was definitely a message of spring on the way-sunny & warm. I walked around my yard-picking up twigs & branches for the fireplace, dog poop (to clean it up), & taking apart my little patio tent that got crushed during the ice storm-I think I will use the poles to outline a potager for this year. I feel optimistic, I love this time of the year...

Taking advantage of the spring-like weather, I finally got to try out my potting bench that I got for Xmas. I repotted dozens of houseplants and potted up dozens of cuttings. Enjoyed getting to work outside for a change! Now if I could only find room for all these pots!

Today was beautiful and I was able to start cleaning out a few of my flower beds. Now that all the snow has melted I can see how much more cleaning I really need to do to get them ready for spring : ( It was nice to see some of my hardy gingers, primroses, perennial poppies and spring bulbs growing. My snowdrops and most of my crocuses had already bloomed in late Jan because of the freaky weather. At least it doesn't look like the warm early winter temps did any damage to my flowering shrubs and trees. I did take the wrappings off of my fig trees. I hope I didn't uncover them prematurely.
Karyn