As many residents of Oregon do, I suffered from the winter blues. Whether you call it SAD (Seasonal Affectiveness Disorder) or simple a hibernation instinct I find the rainy season particularly difficult to handle on any year. This year, however, I am finding it particularly tough. After an entire year without seeing winter (I left for Australia in October and returned in March) I feel the cold and the inescapable wet as an almost physical weight on both mind and body. I don’t want to do anything except eat, sleep, take hot baths, and sleep some more. However, I must go to school, play with the dog, cuddle the cat (best done while napping though) and perform other seemingly pointless chores every day. How do I do this? Honestly some days I dont. I stay in my pajamas, I drink lots of tea and cocoa and I play video games if I am not napping or bathing. (Some times I think I should grow gills the amount of time I spend in the tub.) Previous years I have battled the blues by retreating to that haven of warmth and skin cancer known as the tanning salon. Peter has made me promise that I will save my skin and future health by ceasing that uplifting practice. So I have replaced it with workout at least once a week (twice or more is best) and sitting in the sauna in the women’s locker room when I am done.

On the plus side, the complete lack of any desire to go outside has given me many long days in the office working on school and research. I have come up with a couple of good ideas and gotten some rather good experiments run.

So, how do you deal with the rainy season?