Weather Induced Depression

The weather seems to affect many people's moods and their activities. I read aloud in the evenings to my husband since we do not have a television and have turned off our computers before supper. So I read various books from the Bible to inspirational, to business books to even books about Science (of which my husband just loves), and books about how to do various homesteading chores (such as Carla Emery's Encyclopedia of Country Living). It is our learning time. Right now I am reading a book called Sugar Blues by William Dufty and this book is so interesting.

Last night I read in a book that had various inspirational stories. The one I read was about a grandfather who when someone came by his greeting was always the same, "Beautiful day, isn't it?" No matter what the weather was....raining, snowing, cold and windy, sunny, hot and humid..........whatever it was. The author told how if it was cold and snowing, his grandfather would fill up the potbellied wood stove in the living room and get a fire going.  Then he'd bring out some paper, pens and books and settle down to spend a day reading writing and feeling the cozy warmth of a wood stove.

One day a friend came to his house to cancel their outing together due to the rainy weather and he was afraid of him getting sick. When he opened the door the first thing he heard from his friend was, "Beautiful day, isn't it?" So they went on the outing and had a memorable time. Which they would have missed out on if he had canceled due to the weather. How many times have you cancelled something you were going to do due to the weather? I have done it many times myself. Especially winter time activities. I hate driving in snow and probably miss out on doing something

So many people look at the weather and it is the factor that decides their mood for the day. I see it around me all the time. If it is a beautiful day then they are in a great mood because they can go outside and do what they want in the fresh air and sunshine. But if not, they are cooped up inside and just let their mood reflect the drip, drip, drip of the rain as it hits the windows. I know for me, I appreciate the rain. It keeps my hand dug well filled all through the summer. The only weather I cannot handle is the thunder and lightning storms but I have gotten a bit better about them in recent years. And last night we had a doozie of a thunder and lightning storm.

Last summer was the summer known as "the year of no summer" and our garden did not do well. This year I have a feeling it could be a dry summer though so far we have had a perfect spring. I try to stay "up" and not let the weather or someone else's mood bring me down. I get that from my family. My father and mother were great jokers. Always had something funny to say. I cannot ever remember my parents going around in a depression or bad mood. Though my father had periods where his health was not good and he'd be in very bad pain, later on we found that he had kidney stones and that's a whole other story.

Copyright © 2010 Kathleen G. Lupole