The Winter Drearies

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary. ~Edgar Allan Poe

Do you ever get the mid-winter drearies? I like living in a place that has seasons. I like going from spring to summer to fall and even to winter, except sometimes winter seems a few weeks too long. And winter has a way of hiding the face of the sun from us. It can turn a very cold shoulder on us and then the next week flash lightning at us on a warm night. Then go ballistic on those frosty temperatures again. We’ve had a snow this winter. A nice snow but it was so cold, the snow wasn’t very slippery. The car tires crunched on top of it and kept rolling. So I didn’t have cabin fever. I was out and about on the snow days and fortunately stayed on the road with no too close encounters with other people who didn’t stay in.

But for some reason, I’m tiptoeing around the edge of the winter drearies. So what to do? Google it, of course. All sorts of advice out there for people who are feeling the grayness of winter. Let’s name a few.

1. Cook something cheery. Maybe one of those favorite pies after National Pie Day yesterday. Better yet, go on a weekend jaunt and let someone else cook that happy pie for you. (I made vegetable soup yesterday. Does that count? Alas, no pie.)
2. Bundle up and go outside. (No problem. I’m going to be outside with my dog, Frankie, for sure. He is doing wonders for my step count.)
3. Laugh. Watch funny videos or a funny movie. (I watched Princess Bride for the first time and Ghostbusters for the third time last weekend. That should do it.)
4. Count your blessings every day. (I can do that and stay busy for a while.)
5. Read a good book. (Now that sounds like a plan. A cup of tea, a soft lap blanket, a crackling fire and a book. Perfect winter cheer.)

But that last one may give me a strong clue as to the reason I’ve got some of those drearies. I need to be writing a book. I am writing a book but very slowly. Doubts over my story cloud the day. Will I ever come up with enough words? Even more important, will they be the right words? Mostly I need to keep chugging along and coming up with words, with scenes, with a story. That can be sort of like walking through deep snow where you have to purposefully lift your foot out of the snow to take another step. Makes for a good workout. I can hope my writer muscles are getting a workout too.

He who marvels at the beauty of the world in summer will find equal cause for wonder and admiration in winter. ~John Burroughs

Maybe if I remember this about the wonder and things to admire in winter the same as summer, I’ll fight off those winter drearies.

Just in case you may be having a case of the winter drearies too, I’m ready to give away a book or two to help you chase them away. So check back on Sunday night or next Monday to see what I can dream up to help us have some book fun in the middle of winter.

By the way, I found out last week that something had gone cock-eyed on my blog here and those of you who have subscribed to get my posts, didn’t get the usual notifications. I sent out distress signals to my web hosts and that fast, it was fixed. At least, I’m pretty sure it was fixed. I do appreciate all of you who take a few minutes each week to read my posts and sometimes comment. So to get an early entry into my blog giveaway (I promise I’ll figure out all the details of prizes and deadlines to enter by Sunday), you can tell me what you do to fight the winter drearies. If it’s go to Hawaii, I’ll try not to be envious.