I'd never make it in Seattle

I promised myself not to write about the weather, but after the 451st straight day of gray skies and rain (I know, it hasn't been THAT long, it just seems that way...) I am forced to blog about it.

Is it my age?  The fact that I work from home and can see the gray skies out of every single window I walk through?  Do I not have enough going on in my life?  Because this winter, more then ever in my life, I have really been affected by the gray skies.

Maybe it's the giant piles of gray snow that look like they will never melt, on the shady side of our house.  Maybe it 's because we aren't taking any kind of vacation break this year, and these four walls are closing in.  Whatever it is, I need some help.


Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of a crashing summer thunderstorm, or waking to the sound of soft raindrops on my roof.  I just don't want it to last for WEEKS.

I have tried all of my usual tricks-lots of lights on in the house all day, fragrant candles glowing, beautiful music playing on the stereo. I have watched shows of lush tropical islands.  I have read books set in hot climates.  I have gotten out of the house and looked at garden supplies and patio furniture and imagined my yard green.  I look at the glimpses of green grass through the snow and imagine sitting in my back yard with a glass of wine. 

Mike tells me to remember that just above the clouds, the sky is achingly blue.  And I'm trying, really, I am.

I bought some purple tulips and daffodils at Trader Joes this week.  I cut up a fresh mango.  I even painted my toenails in my favorite summer color, and drank a glass of iced green tea and thought long and hard about what it feels like to be too warm in the summer.

Today Mike and I are going to the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory for a couple of hours, to take some pictures, and soak up the greeness, and try to forget about the weather for a while.  Maybe that will do the trick.

Any suggestions, dear readers, on how not to lose my mind before the skies turn blue again?  (and yes, I have tried the drinking lots of wine to forget about it all trick...)