I've got it - no doubt about it. Dreaded cabin fever with full blown symptoms. First there's the horrible "being stuck in the house and you can't open the windows" thing. I'm a fresh air person and a day without it takes it's toll on my psyche. So, at various points throughout the day, I stick my head outside and take some deep breaths. Right now the temperatures during the day are hovering around mid teens, so standing out there for very long isn't advisable. OK. Yes, I could bundle up and go for a walk. Yes I could and you know what - that's what I'm going to do - starting tomorrow. I'm not going to let Old Man Winter sock it to me anymore. I'm going to put on lots of layers and head over to the city path for a vigorous jaunt. I'll let you know how that goes..........Then there are the long evenings that drag interminably on and on and on... I find myself in my pj's around 7 p.m. clutching my latest library acquisition. I gather my various pillows and my soft blankie then plop down on the couch for a good read. If I make it 30 minutes without conking out, it's unusual. Most folks watch television, but that isn't an option here as we don't pay for it, and have no antenna. We do rent the occasional movie, though, and that might keep me up until 9p.
I'm an artist, so I should be doing art, right? Well, if only it were that easy. Due to the lack of fresh air which in turn fuels my creativity and also the fact that I feel like the day is over when the sun goes down, I find it terribly hard to create this time of year. That's a real shame since I have so much time to create right now. In addition, the holidays took the stuffing out of me with all of the usual stresses and I find that I have to recuperate for a month or more before I can really get on with life.
Blogging. I can do that - like right now. It's dark out, has been for several hours now and I've spent the time in the fairly useless activity of blogging. I made a fairly useless movie for this blog too. Here it is (it has music).
Lest you are wondering about the picture at the beginning of this post, let me explain. Merle and I were simultaneously suffering the effects of cabin fever earlier today, so we decided to go for a drive. We headed up in the hills, went to Starbucks in Estes Park where we each indulged in our favorite pricey caffeinated hot beverage and then drove around in a somewhat aimless fashion. Off one side road we drove by the above pictured tableau consisting of an old diningroom set in the forest.
I call it "Dining with Old Cold Ghosts".
