Cabin Fever

If I was ever asked to pose for a calendar, I certainly hope that January is not my month.  I am not a big fan of January.   What's to enjoy?  It is dreary and dull out.  I think bears have the right idea.  Sleep until winter is over.

Although, it has been nice the past few years, being able to see sunshine almost everyday.  That helps in a really big way to get me through to spring.

Y'all in Western Washington - you like to tell yourself that you really don't mind the grayness and some sort of precipitation everyday.  HAH!  Move to sunnier climes and you will find out that you have been lying to yourself for a very long time.

Anyway ~

I have felt like a hermit since the first of the year.  Stuck in the house because it is just plain too cold to go anywhere.  I know something has to change when the highlight of my week is going to WalMart, Bob's Gun Shop or waiting around home for a truckload of gravel to be delivered.

Shortly after the new year, the entire family piled into the truck for a trip to Osage, which is a couple hours west of us.  While I knew that Osage would consist of nothing more than the pottery shop with the oldest cash register in the world, it would at least get us out of the house for a bit.

Or something like that.

I wouldn't know about the cash register history.  While I was correct in Osage consisting only of the Clayworks pottery shop, said pottery shop was closed when we arrived.

We drove over 150 miles just to end up back in Mountain Home to try out a Chinese restaurant for a late lunch.  At least we got to see the Dogbranch School and Cemetery.

Oh well, we had to be doing something.

A couple of weeks ago, the temperatures edged up into the 40's.  Randy and I were ready to dig out our shorts.  We thought we had died and gone to heaven.  Turned out to be a short-lived feeling.

Last week, Randy was over the moon because it snowed.  On Thursday, we got about four inches of the powdery white stuff that Roxy enjoyed running in, licking and tracking into the house.  Along with snow comes the cold.  Snow is beautiful while it is falling and then for approximately twenty-four hours afterwards.  After that point it just is a mushy, cold, sloshy, muddy mess.

I am now officially tired of the January and am suffering from 'Cabin Fever'.  According to my ever-trusty Wikipedia most of my symptoms clearly match their description.

• Restlessness

  You betcha.

• Irritability

  Yep.  In a big way.  However, it could be SDD (Sugar Deprivation Depression).  Or quite possibly both.

• Irrational frustration with Everyday Objects

  Would Randy considered an 'everyday object'?  If so, yep.

• Forgetfulness

  I am middled-aged.  This is a part of my everyday life.

• Laughter

  Seriously?  That's a symptom of cabin fever?  Randy laughs at me everyday.

• Excessive Sleeping

  No, and thank you, Roxy.

• Distrust of Anyone They Are With

  I don't think so.  But why has Randy made numerous trips to Bob's?

• Urge To Go Outside Even In the Rain, Snow or Dark

  Apparently the person who wrote this definition does not have a pet.

This morning, Randy, Roxy and I heard the beginning to the end of the January gloominess.  A song bird singing away loud and clear.  And my daffodils are starting to come up.  There is hope that winter will end.

Have the BEST day ever!

~ Dorothy