Someone asked on Twitter how do you get through winter that doesn’t involve wine.  I said full-spectrum lights.  Some guy in Chicago was all over my reply. Guess Chicago is pretty bleak in winter.  Actually, now that I think about it, I changed trains there once and almost froze my nose off.

Anyway, I have a compact fluorescent bulb in an overhead light in the main room, and I call it ‘turning on the sun’.  I turn it on when I get up, and off sometime in the afternoon.  It is amazing the difference it makes in how I feel.  If you don’t know, SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is not just getting a bit down because it is cold and snowy.  It is a form of depression which can be pretty debilitating. Before I discovered the lights, I had a very hard time in winter.  I love winter, though.  Fireplace, blanket, curled up on the couch with tea or a Viking Thaw.  Beautiful snow falling. I hope. We’ve had rain instead lately.  It’s WINTER Mother Nature.  Get with the program.  Yes, climate change is real and is happening as we speak.  But winter.  What’s not to love?

Viking Thaw is hot chocolate with booze of your choice (I prefer Goslings Bermuda Black Rum, my friend Tess prefers Amaretto) and whipped cream.  Oh, yum. Here’s to happy winters.