Ass-Backwards SAD

Last winter my doctor suggested that I may have a bit of Seasonal Affective Disorder. I completely agree, but not in the way it is defined. The fact is I love winter. I love snow. I love dark rainy days. I like the prospect of staying home, or at least inside, all day long looking at the rain/snow/sleet coming down. I like icy streets. I like fog. I like cold mornings that seep into your lungs and take your breath away.

There is none of that in Virginia. And if there is it rarely happens. I watch the weather hoping for a day of rain or a snow storm. And almost 90% of the time I am disappointed.

Honestly, I work better and am more productive in the winter months. When I was an undergrad (attending a college on the quarter system) I always took my heaviest credit load in the winter and I always did the best academically. When I started working, I always got more done and had better ideas from December through March (sometimes April in northeast Oregon).

My first year in Virginia I remember walking to my last final of the fall semester and seeing the first few flakes of snow. I was ecstatic. And I did incredibly well on the final.

So here it is, January in Virginia. No rain. No snow. No hint of winter weather whatsoever. In fact, just two days ago it was nearing 70 degrees. And I feel SAD. If you look at the symptoms of SAD, I've got them. But I chalk it up to the fact that winter in Virginia doesn't meet my expectations of what winter should be.

Incidentally, I feel similar during the summer months when we have days and days of gray humid weather. Why? Because, again, Virginia summers don't meet my expectation of what summer should be.