19 April 2006
Cabin Fever is just Bad Latitude
The cabin fever has finally broken.
I'm feeling easier now.
February and March are the worst for me. I get cagey. More intense. I drink more. I put on weight. It's not fun, and it's not pretty. I want to ditch everything and leave, but even when I travel, it's not enough.
This winter was extra tough because I couldn't do any of my favorite outdoor winter sports. It started snowing on Thanksgiving, and kept it up for most of a month. Then on Christmas day it started raining. And we couldn't keep any accumulation after that. It's no fun snowboarding down an ice sheet, or even a dirty slushy hill.
True, I wandered up to Searchmont and Boyne, and got a great powder day in AK, but that was the extent of it. No local skiing to speak of. I made one foray into XC skiing in December, when we had a foot of snow. That's it. In 3 sentences, all of my winter outdoor activities.
I did a bunch of treadmill running at the gym. I picked up heavy things and set them back down. But it's not the same as getting hours of natural light and fresh air when you're playing out in the big blue room.
I'd been out on a couple of bike rides without as many layers of overclothing, but it took one good solid weekend of sunshine to fix me up.
Friday night Scott drove us into Royal Oak. Yellow jeep, top down, temps in the upper 70's. We had tacos at a mexican joint and ate them at the tables on the sidewalk. Watching the traffic go by, feeling the breeze, sun setting. It got cooler, so I pulled on my shawl and we walked the strip. Got some gelato, ate it while strolling.
Saturday morning I drove us up to my parents' cottage. We helped dad cut down a tree, walked around on the beach, soaked up the sun. Sunday was easter. We had candy for breakfast, then Scott, Dad and I went for a dip in the lake (frrrrrreeezing), and ran(/walked) a couple miles. I took Scott up the coast to the Sturgeon Point Lighthouse (he'd never seen a real lighthouse before), we saw wild turkeys at the railroad crossing on our way back. And 5 deer at another RR Xing on our way home.
It was a weekend of bright eyeblue skies, sun, white fluffy clouds and cool breezes.
I've been considering a move to Sweden for work. I think it probably won't work out - what with my cabin fever being so bad at this latitude.
Auburn Hills, MI 42.6N
Copper Harbor, MI 47.5N
Seattle, WA, 47.6N
Bamberg, Germany, 49.9N
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 52.1N
Sitka, AK 57.07
Gothenburg, Sweden, 57.8N
Juneau, AK, 58.3N
I'm feeling easier now.
February and March are the worst for me. I get cagey. More intense. I drink more. I put on weight. It's not fun, and it's not pretty. I want to ditch everything and leave, but even when I travel, it's not enough.
This winter was extra tough because I couldn't do any of my favorite outdoor winter sports. It started snowing on Thanksgiving, and kept it up for most of a month. Then on Christmas day it started raining. And we couldn't keep any accumulation after that. It's no fun snowboarding down an ice sheet, or even a dirty slushy hill.
True, I wandered up to Searchmont and Boyne, and got a great powder day in AK, but that was the extent of it. No local skiing to speak of. I made one foray into XC skiing in December, when we had a foot of snow. That's it. In 3 sentences, all of my winter outdoor activities.
I did a bunch of treadmill running at the gym. I picked up heavy things and set them back down. But it's not the same as getting hours of natural light and fresh air when you're playing out in the big blue room.
I'd been out on a couple of bike rides without as many layers of overclothing, but it took one good solid weekend of sunshine to fix me up.
Friday night Scott drove us into Royal Oak. Yellow jeep, top down, temps in the upper 70's. We had tacos at a mexican joint and ate them at the tables on the sidewalk. Watching the traffic go by, feeling the breeze, sun setting. It got cooler, so I pulled on my shawl and we walked the strip. Got some gelato, ate it while strolling.
Saturday morning I drove us up to my parents' cottage. We helped dad cut down a tree, walked around on the beach, soaked up the sun. Sunday was easter. We had candy for breakfast, then Scott, Dad and I went for a dip in the lake (frrrrrreeezing), and ran(/walked) a couple miles. I took Scott up the coast to the Sturgeon Point Lighthouse (he'd never seen a real lighthouse before), we saw wild turkeys at the railroad crossing on our way back. And 5 deer at another RR Xing on our way home.
It was a weekend of bright eyeblue skies, sun, white fluffy clouds and cool breezes.
I've been considering a move to Sweden for work. I think it probably won't work out - what with my cabin fever being so bad at this latitude.
Auburn Hills, MI 42.6N
Copper Harbor, MI 47.5N
Seattle, WA, 47.6N
Bamberg, Germany, 49.9N
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 52.1N
Sitka, AK 57.07
Gothenburg, Sweden, 57.8N
Juneau, AK, 58.3N
