Monday, September 24, 2007

A Good Place To Start

Today is the Fall Equinox and a good place to start counting down to the shortest day of the year December 21st. The moon is full and the day light hours are at an even 12 hours.
To celebrate this date I baked some bread. My Grandmother Blanche taught me how. I love to make bread on a rainy day it helps me warm the house and my heart it's perfect comfort food.
There is something about the live yeast making the dough raise, the kneading and forming the loaves and the smell of baking bread that is so satisfying.

Bread represents Christs body in the sacrament, a loaf fed the crowd in the Beatitudes, the manna from heaven God gave the Israelites when they whined and complained, so many references to bread in the Bible and literature. Tomorrow I am going to share a loaf with my neighbor.

Sunrise: 7:50am
Sunset: 7:49pm 11 hours and 59 minutes of daylight
Moonrise: 7:22pm
Moonset: 7:52am
Full Moon: 10:46am

This winter will be different. I will try not to get the flu if I can help it and I have decided not to take any antidepressants this winter for SAD or Cabin Fever. Last year I went to the doc and said; I've got migraines and I'm hormonal and I get Prozak! WTF? They dispense them like candy around here. I know whats best for me and antidepressants don't do a damn thing to improve things when I'm down. So this winter I will stay positive and keep SAD (seasonal affect disorder) from laying me low. If anyone has any tricks or suggestions to keep my spirits up please let me know. I'm willing to try anything!!!

3 comments:

Lisabeth and Jeff said...

hi judy,
i am a pretty big advocate of the light therapy boxes/lamps. you can do some research on the web.(keywords SAD lights) if you decide to go with the light, make sure its >10,000 lux as studys show this to be the effective range. we used it last winter at breakfast time (about 20 or so minutes each morning). you can get one online, delivered for around 130 bucks.
the road lottery info is on the national parks website, denali, and you apply in july.(deadline was the 31st, I think) they announce it at the beginning of each summer and the actual dates to go are usually in mid september. its $10.00 to apply. an amazing experience, i highly recommend. thanks for reading the blog. love yours too. yes lots of antidepressants given out here... but SAD can be pretty debilitating for some.
cheers!

Patti Gibbons said...

Oh I struggle with SAD here in the northeast too. Right now I am starting to feel the crash of it all...hormones raging, fading light and warmth, and I stopped meds about 4 years ago. It is really hard sometimes and I feel sorry for my husband, but it helps to get massages, make art, go out with friends, take small trips, ANYTHING to make you smile. Do lots of that as much as you can and it will help. I have a huge toolbox, LOL. xxpatti

Judy Vars said...

yes as far as taking care not to let SAD overwhelm you one has to be proactive. The best I ever did with Cabin Fever was when I was doing aerobics every day. UGH