Winter is always tough on me, emotionally.

[Tobin S.]

I know it's not actually winter yet, but we just got our first significant snow of the season and the temperature didn't get out of the 20s today. Tomorrow morning when I head off to work in the dark the forecast is for 11 degrees. I hate it. It wouldn't be as bad if I didn't drive for a living and work outside for part of the day. Hopefully, with some luck, I'll be done with that come January. But I think the short days and cold weather will still get to me.

Stuff like this runs through my head for weeks this time of year. I don't have any school work to do tonight and my wife has a nice dinner planned for us and then we are going to power watch our favorite TV show. I love my wife and I love my life with her. I imagine us sitting here on the couch snuggled up together while it is cold outside. We are sitting on an apparent rare oasis of a planet hurtling through space at an unimaginable speed. It's cold in space, too. A lot colder than an Indiana winter. Despite the astounding accomplishment of our evolutionary history, and some would say the apparent divinity of humankind, there is no evidence that we will survive more than a few moments in cosmic time. I will be holding onto my wife tonight with a lump in my throat wishing that we can always be together and knowing that life is very brief.

I know my wife has strong roots here, but I really wish we could live some place where it is warm year round.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Ah, my dear Tobin...

I understand your feelings; getting lost in the cold and snow happens when that's all you see for the immediate future.

The seasons change, always, as this one will. It's easy to say that, but harder emotionally to deal with it.

Perhaps some day she will change her mind and then you can move.

[Bombero1956]

2. At last somebody who feels the same as me

Come the first days of October I start the dreaded march towards the gloom of winter. It really gets worse once we fall back. The doctor told me to start using happy lights which didn't do shit for me. Winter for me is a time of backbreaking work clearing snow and ice and the added expense of keeping warm. In addition it ruins the finish on my car. If I don't keep it clean it will rust away in 5 years. Just 3 months, 20 days, 8 hours and 8 minutes until we spring ahead, wake me when its Spring again.

[handmade34]

3. hey...

I know it is not the solution you really need right now but... people with SAD (not saying you have it) really benefit from a "Lightbox" or "Happy Light" I bought one for my son and his winter moods are much, much better...

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/seasonal-affective-disorder/in-depth/seasonal-affective-disorder-treatment/art-20048298


play some nice music too...

[UglyGreed]

4. I also long for a warmer

climate because of health problems, but we could never leave due to the children and of course my wife's job.

[riderinthestorm]

5. Stay strong Tobin. A few more months and hopefully you will have an indoor job

After am chores today (at 11 degrees), I crept inside and curled up in front of the fire in my full winter gear, unable to warm up for a couple hours.

As soon as my feet normalized, I had to go back out for midday chores.

When I came back in, I seriously started a pro/con list on staying on this farm.



I'm so not ready for this, again.

Hang in there...

[Arugula Latte]

6. They say that exercise is a good strategy to combat anxiety/depression.

I know I always feel better after I move. Could you find an indoor pool to swim in? I find that it's sort of mentally uplifting to go swimming in the dead of winter.

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. FWIW....Mr. Dixie gets the "black dog" around Sept. until March

and that was when he lived in Cal.
Here, it actually gets cold now, and the shorter days are so noticeable.

He does not get dangerously down, but there is a strong wish to just hibernate till warmer weather., and he gets grumpy.
except this year, when he started taking an SSRI anti-depressant for the first time.
Almost instant mood change.
Lasting mood change.
He now can focus on other things around the house and become less obsessed about the cold and dark.

[logosoco]

8. I have been battling with myself NOT to utter the words "I hate winter"

since we aren't even to Dec. 21 yet. Too cold too soon.

But I think today there is nowhere within the 49 states that is very warm today!

[orleans]

9. ...

"I will be holding onto my wife tonight with a lump in my throat wishing that we can always be together and knowing that life is very brief."

...

1. life is very brief

2. you can always be together

[mnhtnbb]

10. Job hunting is a great time to dream about other climates

and maybe find a place that makes a new life for you both.

[RebelOne]

11. You really don't want to live in an area where it is warm year 'round.

I grew up in Miami, Florida, and lived there until 1989 when I moved here to North Georgia. Year-round warm temps can become monotonous. I appreciate the four seasons even though I hate summer as I had too much of it in South Florida. I love winter, but I had four broken water pipes because of the extreme cold last year. Fortunately, my son was able to replace them even though he is not a plumber. I have a feeling this winter is going to be just as brutally cold considering the low temperatures in the 20s and 30s the past few days in Georgia.

[HipChick]

12. Meh...I lived in Miami for 8yrs

I got tired of the beaches, the heat and no seasons

Treasure that you at least have someone to share those times with, there are so many that are alone, winter is especially tough at that time...

[monmouth4]

13. Dear Tobin, It is 59-60 here in West Palm Beach, just so you'll feel better...n/t

[trueblue2007]

14. i hate winter

lived in oregon all my life and won't move


but the rain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ugly grey skies

[Crewleader]

15. Hi Tobin S.

Summers are brutal in Florida, but in Central Florida there is more seasonal change then South Florida where it's a lot warmer longer and my friends in Northern Florida get colder temperatures like now, their 20s' and we're at the freeze line, now we're having 30s' and 40's at night.

Like CaliforniaPeggy says, seasons change and life along with it,
maybe one day you'll both will make the move where you both want to be.

Nice meeting you Tobin S.
.

[DFW]

16. I hate winter, too. Here, we only have daylight from about 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM

It's not as cold as it is in North America, but it is gray, damp, dark, and miserable. Plus, it is a busy time of year for me, so I am away from my wife a lot and have 18 hour days.

I long for the late spring, when it's daylight out by 6 AM and not dark until 10:30. This far north, we get extremes. What's with the unseasonably mild temperatures here in Northern Europe, where we are at the same latitude as Labrador, while back home in Dallas they have snow, who the hell knows? Vortex, schmortex, it ain't natural.

[Jokerman]

17. Indiana's not bad, 8 or 9 months out of the 12.

I'm used to fighting seasonal depression December through February but this year November has hit me hard.

Even when the March weather sucks, at least the days are getting longer.

[fizzgig]

18. i never had a problem with winter until last year

it was just too damned cold. we kind of skipped fall this year, it just went from indian summer to winter and the short days are really getting to me this year.

[Dawson Leery]

19. I know what you are saying.

I know many people who went to Virginia/North Carolina and California to get out of the Northern winters.

[hack89]

20. Have you tried a light box? Sound like you suffer from Seasonal Affective Disease (SAD)

Winter always got me down emotionally until I started using one.

[alarimer]

21. To me winter feels like death.

I don't enjoy fall because it feels like the ending of something. To me, spring and summer are fun, while fall and winter are just dreary.

I hate being cold. I used to complain a lot about the heat in Texas, but I think I hate cold more.

Even though it doesn't snow much here, and it's not that cold, I just don't like it.

I am a tropical, beachy sort of person and anything else just kind of sucks.