Here comes the grueling part of the year

[LWJ]

When the time changes, and the rain drones on for days/weeks/months. I find my cheer is fleeting and gloom and despair are more common.

Living in the Pacific Northwest is great, until it isn’t.

I grit my teeth and pop vitamin D for the next 9 months.

And so it begins…

[craigster59]

Originally Posted by LWJ

When the time changes, and the rain drones on for days/weeks/months. I find my cheer is fleeting and gloom and despair are more common.

Living in the Pacific Northwest is great, until it isn’t.

I grit my teeth and pop vitamin D for the next 9 months.

And so it begins…

Both my Wife and me love the rain. I'm straight SoCal boy and she's a German gal.

Maybe we can switch homesteads one year. You can be Snowbirds and We'll be Frostbacks.

[Ayles]

Originally Posted by LWJ

When the time changes, and the rain drones on for days/weeks/months. I find my cheer is fleeting and gloom and despair are more common.

Living in the Pacific Northwest is great, until it isn’t.

I grit my teeth and pop vitamin D for the next 9 months.

And so it begins…

And you are a Southerner!

It can be brutal but taking up winter sports (skiing) really helped deal with the gloom of our winters.

[LWJ]

Been a skier since 1975. It certainly helps! Winter used to be my favorite time.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by LWJ

When the time changes, and the rain drones on for days/weeks/months. I find my cheer is fleeting and gloom and despair are more common.

Living in the Pacific Northwest is great, until it isn’t.

I grit my teeth and pop vitamin D for the next 9 months.

And so it begins…

Hey, perk up. We're about to return to the real colors of western Oregon. Green and gray. Evergreen trees and the gray sky. Fire danger diminished. Halleluiah!

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by LWJ

Living in the Pacific Northwest is great, until it isn’t.

Hopefully you have the mildest winter ever and can get out and enjoy it.

Wellington, New Zealand has just had the warmest winter ever. Usually I don't like the winter but a lot of our mid winter days were jeans and t-shirt type days. So hoping yours will be like ours was.

[mjohnson]

I'm hoping for the worst for the NW - forecast is warm/dry here in the southern rockies and I'm looking at plane tickets today. We wanna' ski!

[LWJ]

Thanks all! I needed to dump the poison.

[flatbutt]

I hear ya LWJ. I used to be a cross country skiing winter back packer. No can do anymore. I also got into snowboarding with FBII but again it's not something I can do anymore. I can ice skate kinda sorta but I spend more time getting up from a fall than actual gliding.

So, looking for something to do out of doors that helps me tolerate the gloomy months is a challenge. I have a county park of "near wilderness" condition only 2 miles from home where I can hike, and snowshoe and I enjoy that a whole bunch.

The one thing I did which is quite extravagant for me was to build a screenhouse in the backyard. I can take a book and a pot of tea there and basically be outside but under a roof.

[Evans, Marv]

We'd welcome some winter weather here in SoCal. We can use the precipitation. The short days aren't so welcomed.

[fanaudical]

I'm kinda right there with you; been a PNW kid my whole life and it used to really get me down. Couple of thoughts:

I have one of those SADD lights on my desk; it does help (along with good doses of vitamin D).

Get out for the sunshine when it hits or drive out the gorge and enjoy the scenery and weather change just a few miles east.

No bad weather - just sub-par clothing - get some good outdoor gear and get outside...

Music sometimes helps: