If you have
ever lived on in the Pacific Northwest then you probably have experienced the
upswing in your mood when you happen to get a sunny day in the winter. We are
experiencing the 3rd day of sunshine now and people are happy, singing,
& bouncing around the office. It’s an amazing change from last week.
For those of you who are unfamiliar
with a northwest coastal winter, all I can say is heavy gray clouds and daily
rain for months. People that grow up here don’t carry umbrellas – we have coats
that keep the rain out (hoods attached; of course). And anyways, either it’s
not raining hard enough to bother carrying an umbrella or it’s too windy. I
think Gor-tex was invented out here.
The constant grey seems to affect
people who have moved here the most. You really can go for 60 to 90 days
without seeing the sun, just grey clouds.
Why do people live here; well it’s a
warm wet. You can grow a garden 9 to 10 months a year and with an unheated greenhouse,
you can grow plants year round. You don’t have to shovel rain – ever. Rain
doesn’t pile up on the roof or buildings and pull off your gutters. You don’t
have to worry about your tongue sticking to anything. You don’t need special
tires to drive in it. Planes don’t need to be “de-rained”; they fly just fine
when they are wet. The moist air is lovely for our skin, and we don’t have to
worry about UV damage most of the year. I have a snow shovel but I use it to clean
out the garage and dairy, it’s great for shavings and straw. You don’t need to
invest in a block heater or a snow blower.
Unfortunately, thanks to global
warming, we are getting snowed on in the winter. And this is not light snow,
fluffy snow, granular snow. No, it is heavy, wet snow so it’s like driving on
slushy ice. You can’t leave it on the greenhouse or on trees as it breaks
everything. You have to wear all your rain gear & warm clothes underneath
so you are always too hot outside, and if you don’t – you are soaking wet in
minutes. Soggy snow is brutal to shovel, as I have to do to get out to the
animals. It fills up goats water dishes and they stand, staring at it – not
drinking. Plus they won’t walk in wet snow unless they have to. So yuck, yuck,
yuck. AND it seems to be happening every year! The outrage! The horror!
Okay, it’s not that bad. Snow makes
everything very pretty and covers all the mud and garbage. The world looks
fresh and new. If it’s cold, below freezing, snow is fine – fluffy and light,
you can use a broom to brush off the walk way and a path to the barns. Makes an
awesome crunchy noise when you walk on it and it is easy to drive on – behaves
like sand or gravel. The animals will play in it, people play in it, and you
don’t end up soaking wet. It is easy to stay warm, a couple layers and you are
good to go.
However, I digress, as I am prone to
do. One item you will notice if you live here is how many people have the SAD
lights and use them. SAD is seasonal affective disorder and seems to be a
result of the lack of strong sunlight. The lights provide a sunlight substitute
and help buoy up people’s mood. Many west coasters travel during the winter,
heading to Mexico or Hawaii for bask in the sun for a week or two. We have many
snowbirds as well. Many residents flock off down to Arizona for the winter. We
also have a bunch of snowbirds flocking in from the Prairie Provinces, to get
away from the bitter cold.
I think it is all in what you are used
too. As I said, I grew up here and love it. You also may want to cultivate the
attitude of “Growing where you are planted”. It’s not the place that makes you
happy, it is you.
Jan 2011 - Happy Christmas eh?
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