Skin Cancer vs Seasonal Affective Disorder??

Yesterday was the first day of autumn....everyone out of your chairs. A little 'happy dance' action is in order!!!!!!!

I love the fall!!! Actually, I love the winter just as much!! The leaves turning colors, and eventually falling to cover the ground in a crunchy carpet. Cooler days and chilly nights. Halloween candy on the grocery store display shelves. Being able to have a campfire, and actually standing around it for the warmth. Waking up when you've left your windows open during the night, and feeling the chill in the air outside the warmth of your blankets. Blue jeans and sweatshirts....eventually giving way to coats, and gloves. The absolute quiet that exists when you go outside after the sun has gone down...and it's snowing.

I love it all!!!!

Most of the people I hang out with, on the other hand, can't stand it. I wish we got enough snow to make buying a pair of snow shoes worth it. Wish we got enough, to justify buying a set of cross country skies. My friends wish for 80 degree days and shorts. They hope we have snow on the ground Christmas morning, only to disappear in time to drive to grandma's house for dinner later that night.

I also love that we don't get too much snow...because it means I can still get out and do allot of the things I love to do. I can still hike the trails of the Loess Hills and, actually, see quite a bit MORE without leaves on the trees.



But.....the one thing I hate about the fall and winter.......darkness. I hate sitting at work, watching the sun go down before I leave. I hate having to use the headlights of my car on the way to AND from work. I hate never seeing my house in color....only seeing it in the "black and white" of darkness.

There are people that take advantage of the winter months, to accomplish things inside their homes. I would love to be one of those people. But, as the sun goes down, so does any motivation I might possess during the day. Imagine my 'spunk' being measured on the fuel gauge of a car. As the sun goes below "E", so does my yearning to accomplish anything...other than eating, sleeping, and dreaming it was light out.

First thing I do when I get up in the morning, start turning on lights. First thing I do when I get home at night, start turning on all the lights and closing all the shades. I don't care if I'm not in the room, the light needs to be on. If I'm in the kitchen, and see the living room in darkness, I'm instantly tired. If I can look out the window of the bathroom and see only my reflection, I just want to go hide under a blanket.

Seasonal Affective Disorder????? A form of it, yeah, probably. I'm not saying a Valium prescription is in my future, that I want to slit my wrists, or hide in my house 24/7. It's nothing that bad....but it is really, really high on the "annoying the crap out of myself meter"!

I've heard that people with the same issue, will take to tanning during the winter season. I took a stab at tanning booths a number of years ago before a vacation. I went in three times a week, for 4 weeks...and came out looking just as pale as when I went in. So, I've never felt the need to waste my money in search of the sought after winter (or heck, even summer) tan. My skin just won't cooperate! As I said in my sunless tanning entry, even in the middle of summer, if I'm wearing socks...you can't see where the legs end and the socks begin.

But now I ponder....maybe I want to risk skin cancer and leathery skin just so I can stay awake at night long enough to do the dishes??? Or, maybe not. Can you really get that leathery skin, if you don't actually ever get a tan?