Unseasonably Depressed

I noticed it several months ago. I just couldn’t get out of bed in the morning. Sure, it was dark out, and the bedroom was cold, but I mean I REALLY couldn’t get out of bed. I’m a notorious snoozer. I can hit that snooze button two… three times before I finally get up. But one morning, not too long ago, I went five times before finally extracting myself from bed.

Five incessant bursts of alarm clock buzzing is a whole lotta snoozin’, people.

I didn’t make the connection between my omnipresent lethargy and the weather until two weeks ago. We had a brief reprieve from winter. The sun returned, the temperature rose, and the damn snow finally stopped falling, blowing, sleeting, collecting and whatever else it does all winter in Michigan.

So on that bright sunny afternoon, we opened the office doors and pushed our ergonomically correct desk chairs into the scenic Southfield Commons parking lot. We poured tall glasses of Bloody Mary’s, left our fleeces, scarves, sweaters and gloves inside and turned our faces to the warm sky,

This being Michigan, spring’s stay of execution was short. Dark clouds rolled in, the wind picked up and the rain came down. We reluctantly moved our chairs back inside, drained the remainder of our drinks and went back to work.

It has come as quite a shock to me how much the weather here has affected my moods. New York isn’t exactly balmy mid February. The difference, however, is the sun. On the coldest days in NY, the sun burns bright, reflecting off the streets and the buildings. Even inside, rooms feel warmer when the sun is out.

Michigan is sandwiched between the Great Lakes, so while Detroit doesn’t see a great deal of lake effect snow (most of that is dumped on the west coasts of both Michigan and New York) we get all the cloudy, damp, generally miserable weather. Day after day passes without a break in the clouds.

People here handle it in different ways. Some go tanning, accepting the sun’s false substitute. , Others book vacations to southern destinations. And others just hunker down, buried under warm blankets, and wait it out.

Its early April now and each false start of spring gives me new hope that winter is almost behind us. Of course, it’s hard to be optimistic when the forecast calls for a chance of snow everyday through April 20. (Oh, how I wish I were kidding. Check it out. I dare ya.) So for now I’ll continue to stay inside, snuggled and warm, snooze button at the ready.