Author
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Topic: As I Wait For Spring...
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GypseeWind Knowflake Posts: 6224 From: Love Street, she lingers long on Love Street.. Registered: May 2009
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posted February 09, 2011 06:33 PM
For those of us in America, and specifically those of us who get the really bad weather, this winter has been pretty darn hard, as far as winters go...I read alot about Seasonal depression, and I know that alot of people suffer from this. My doctor was talking about how just in terms of patient volume... there are more all around issues in winter. People have more accidents. There are more cases of suicide. There is more depression, and of course more illness. Whether or not you believe in The Groundhog Myth, either way, let's assume we still have six weeks left.. What can we do to be productive in those six weeks? How can we help each other to get through the last big lump of winter? Maybe we can think of something, something that we can look back on, and feel good about. I am open to any and all ideas/photos, lighthearted, serious discussion, I welcome all contributions. Songs too, if you like. We can discuss excercise.. we know if we start now, we'll feel better about our bathing suit body. Or shorts body. I'll start with a few helpful things that I've tried with sucess in the past.
1. Try to avoid the temptation to go with the darkness. Since the sun isn't shining, sometimes I find myself sitting in a dark room.. then it occurs to me, HEY, I have lights, lets turn them on! Also, if you can, move next to a window, and do your computing, or reading/tv viewing from there. Get some daylight however you can. It really does help. 2. Go outside, even for a few minutes. It's envigorating, and you'll be so greatful for your toasty house once you come back in. 3. Cook all the stuff that you crave when it's too hot to cook in the summer. NOW is the time for the soups, and chillis and casseroles, so go for it. At least the smells will keep you interested! 4. Do some spring cleaning early. It's never too early to think about changes in your living space. Maybe go to the library or get online and research Feng Shui? Even if you don't actually paint or redecorate, you'll be engaging your mind and your creativity towards something positive, as you plan and think about what you'd like to change at home. Once the weather turns warm, we tend to avoid alot of these projects because we want to be outside. I'll be back with more in a bit. IP: Logged |
juniperb Moderator Posts: 8925 From: Blue Star Kachina Registered: Apr 2009
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posted February 09, 2011 07:04 PM
Get grow lights,supplies and plant your seeds now. By spring, they will be ready for transplanting out of doors. I start planting on Imbolc and alternate plantings until March. The lights provide a needed boost for me and the seedlings keep me busy and happy anticipating this summers flush of fresh flowers. Keep bright fresh cut flowers all around the house along with potted greenery ! ------------------ What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~ - George Eliot IP: Logged |
EverEvolvingSpirit Knowflake Posts: 954 From: A Place of Pure Love <3 Registered: Feb 2011
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posted February 09, 2011 07:12 PM
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AcousticGod Knowflake Posts: 8697 From: Dublin, CA Registered: Apr 2009
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posted February 09, 2011 07:22 PM
Good idea Juni. I was going to suggest a light you can get an Amazon. Kind of a therapy light for SAD. I just typed "SAD light" in at Amazon, and they came right up. I haven't had SAD in quite a long time. Where I live the hills get green in winter, and it's really a nice, inviting change. IP: Logged |
GypseeWind Knowflake Posts: 6224 From: Love Street, she lingers long on Love Street.. Registered: May 2009
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posted February 09, 2011 07:30 PM
Gosh, I have alot of typos, and guess what? I ain't fixing them! That's another thing, don't be too hard on yourself, give YOU a break.!The other night, I went all out. I'm not into pampering, and am very low maintenance on the girly thing.. But, I took a nice bubble bath. Then I used a deep conditioning treatment on my super dried out hair. Once I was done with that, I felt like I was on a roll... So, I gave myself a mani/pedi, and then I plucked my eyebrows, and they actually came out symetrical! OMG! THAT made me feel so good, that I put makeup on, even though I was going to bed, in like two hours! It's the little things. Also, being proactive can go hand in hand with not fighting it too much. This is a great time to catch up on all those DVD's you meant to watch. Watch something that feeds your soul, and take some notes... You'd be surprised at how fun that is! I found a copy of Jane Eyre.. a book I've never got completely though. So, I've been reading a chapter a day of it. I think it's also a great time for journaling. Buy yourself a nice journal. Or if you can't afford one (been there, MANY times) buy yourself a composition hard back type of book from the dollar store, and decorate the cover with some lively colorful pictures. I think if something looks inviting, you will want to write in it. Don't restrict yourself to what IT is for. Write whatever you want, doodle, break out the crayons, just have no plan, and see what happens. Use Juni's idea, and then paste your seed packets in the journal, you'll smile when you open that page, and get reminded of the lovely plants you'll soon have. IP: Logged |
EverEvolvingSpirit Knowflake Posts: 954 From: A Place of Pure Love <3 Registered: Feb 2011
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posted February 09, 2011 07:32 PM
ing this thread IP: Logged |
GypseeWind Knowflake Posts: 6224 From: Love Street, she lingers long on Love Street.. Registered: May 2009
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posted February 09, 2011 07:32 PM
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GypseeWind Knowflake Posts: 6224 From: Love Street, she lingers long on Love Street.. Registered: May 2009
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posted February 09, 2011 07:36 PM
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GypseeWind Knowflake Posts: 6224 From: Love Street, she lingers long on Love Street.. Registered: May 2009
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posted February 09, 2011 07:38 PM
Awake, thou wintry earth - Fling off thy sadness! Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth Your ancient gladness! ~Thomas Blackburn, "An Easter Hymn"
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EverEvolvingSpirit Knowflake Posts: 954 From: A Place of Pure Love <3 Registered: Feb 2011
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posted February 09, 2011 07:40 PM
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hippichick Knowflake Posts: 3395 From: Registered: May 2009
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posted February 09, 2011 07:41 PM
GypseeBe blessed lady! Sending lots of sunshine from DEEP in the heart of Texas!!! (as i prepare to move back to the midwest in the next few years...) t~~~ IP: Logged |
GypseeWind Knowflake Posts: 6224 From: Love Street, she lingers long on Love Street.. Registered: May 2009
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posted February 09, 2011 07:41 PM
The History of Groundhog's Day Wednesday, 02 Feb 2011 09:49 AM Article Font Size One of the truly American holidays, if it can be called that, is Groundhog's Day. The history behind Groundhog's day stretches back to the 1700's in Pennsylvania when the Pennsylvannia Dutch settlers used a badger as a weather predictor instead of the groundhog. Ancient times stated that a hibernating animal could predict the coming weather by its emergence from its hole or cave. The tradition was brought over from Europe and bears a resemblance to Candlemas, a Catholic holiday from Medieval times. Another holiday that Groundhog's day resembles is known as Iombolc, a Pagan holiday and celebration that celebrated the turning of the Celtic calendar. It was celebrated on February 1st and involved weather forecasting too. In England, it is always noted if rain falls on July 15th or St. Swithun's Day. A day similar to Groundhog's day, this day says that if it's raining that day, it will rain again for the next 40 days and 40 nights. The legend states that if the groundhog comes out of his hole and sees his shadow on Groundhog's day, he will run back in and there will be six more weeks of winter. However, if he doesn't see his shadow, he will stay out and there will be an early Spring. Any way you look at it, there is always six more weeks of winter, according to the calendar, after Groundhog's Day. According to statistics, the groundhog sees his shadow about 80% of the time. These days, celebrations of Groundhog's in Punxsutawney, PA, draw crowds of up to 40,000 people. Lilburn, GA houses General Beauregard Lee while Jimmy the Groundhog from Sun Prairie, WI is considered the most legitimate ground hog as he's listed on the Congressional Record and Sun Prairie is considered the Groundhog Capital of the World. IP: Logged |
GypseeWind Knowflake Posts: 6224 From: Love Street, she lingers long on Love Street.. Registered: May 2009
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posted February 09, 2011 07:44 PM
Lovely Pic EES! Hippi... we'll be glad to have you back!! I hear even Texas had some horrid weather, well, at least where my ex lives.. Dallas/Fort Worth area, I believe.. IP: Logged |
EverEvolvingSpirit Knowflake Posts: 954 From: A Place of Pure Love <3 Registered: Feb 2011
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posted February 09, 2011 07:45 PM
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GypseeWind Knowflake Posts: 6224 From: Love Street, she lingers long on Love Street.. Registered: May 2009
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posted February 09, 2011 07:48 PM
Wowsers, some GREAT photos here!! http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/03/signs_of_spring.html IP: Logged |
GypseeWind Knowflake Posts: 6224 From: Love Street, she lingers long on Love Street.. Registered: May 2009
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posted February 09, 2011 08:16 PM
Ahh, what a soothing pic, I keep coming back to that last one, EES. MUSIC! KD Lang, 'I Dream of Spring' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QIm4CZcDho&feature=related OH, Swoon! IP: Logged |
EverEvolvingSpirit Knowflake Posts: 954 From: A Place of Pure Love <3 Registered: Feb 2011
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posted February 09, 2011 09:42 PM
My Cancer moon chose that one IP: Logged |
scorpio17 Knowflake Posts: 812 From: Netherlands Registered: Dec 2009
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posted February 10, 2011 05:00 AM
I sat on a rock to rest and noticed a small cherry tree no more than three feet tall and only half in bloom - and marvelled that this lovely late cherry, buried deep in snow all winter, did not forget to blossom when spring finally came to these mountains... Even though what I have written is little more than the babble of the intoxicated and the rambling talk of the dreaming, I jotted these notes hoping they could serve others who might set out on a similar journey.Basho Matsuo (1644-94) IP: Logged |
charmainec Knowflake Posts: 8746 From: Venus next to Randall Registered: Apr 2009
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posted February 10, 2011 07:06 AM
Gypsee IP: Logged |
EverEvolvingSpirit Knowflake Posts: 954 From: A Place of Pure Love <3 Registered: Feb 2011
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posted February 10, 2011 07:29 AM
I <3 this thread, lifts my mood!IP: Logged |
juniperb Moderator Posts: 8925 From: Blue Star Kachina Registered: Apr 2009
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posted February 10, 2011 05:02 PM
A Prayer in Spring Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day; And give us not to think so far away As the uncertain harvest; keep us here All simply in the springing of the year. Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white, Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night; And make us happy in the happy bees, The swarm dilating round the perfect trees. And make us happy in the darting bird That suddenly above the bees is heard, The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill, And off a blossom in mid air stands still. For this is love and nothing else is love, The which it is reserved for God above To sanctify to what far ends He will, But which it only needs that we fulfil. Robert Frost ------------------ What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~
- George Eliot IP: Logged |
EverEvolvingSpirit Knowflake Posts: 954 From: A Place of Pure Love <3 Registered: Feb 2011
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posted February 10, 2011 05:18 PM
quote: Originally posted by juniperb: A Prayer in Spring Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day; And give us not to think so far away As the uncertain harvest; keep us here All simply in the springing of the year. Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white, Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night; And make us happy in the happy bees, The swarm dilating round the perfect trees. And make us happy in the darting bird That suddenly above the bees is heard, The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill, And off a blossom in mid air stands still. For this is love and nothing else is love, The which it is reserved for God above To sanctify to what far ends He will, But which it only needs that we fulfil. Robert Frost
Que linda
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Virgo-AriesArtist Knowflake Posts: 892 From: MidWest :) Registered: Jun 2009
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posted February 10, 2011 10:11 PM
Song of the Ramfrom our beloved Linda Spring may surpise me this year I might actually find myself on the Champs Elysees with nothing to do but make love with you in an attic room overlooking the Seine or lying on the grass in the Bois de Boulogne and suddenly, I'll notice it's April! or I could just as easily wake up in the Highlands drenched in an uncanny, golden glow mingled with the spray of a fine Scottish mist like the rain I ran through in a flash of deja vu one day at an airport in the mountains I'll spend lazy hours shopping for a haunted old castle to live in since I just won the Pulitzer prize you'll be reading to me from Robert Burns under Edinburgh skies and suddenly I'll remember it's April! I might fly down the aisle of a wildflower church in the Alps ringing its bells for joy and it's possible I'll win the Irish Sweepstakes the same day my musical opens on Broadway with floodlights and stars like a gigantic Michael Todd production or be born again -- singing in some little cemetery taking its time out west Spring owes me something so far she's pulled off a few splendid sparklers a plump rosy angel who stayed for a while a make-believe tree house and once, a shiny gold ring but not a real Block Buster Sky Rocket miracle like she always promised maybe this year, unexpectedly IP: Logged |
GypseeWind Knowflake Posts: 6224 From: Love Street, she lingers long on Love Street.. Registered: May 2009
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posted February 11, 2011 12:08 AM
Love them all! YAY! More! More! I'll be adding some more ideas tomorrow..My friend posted on her FB that she saw not one, but TWO cardinals today.. They say that is the first sign of spring. & 's IP: Logged |
juniperb Moderator Posts: 8925 From: Blue Star Kachina Registered: Apr 2009
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posted February 11, 2011 09:42 AM
In my area we have cardinals at my feeders year around! Here robins are our harbingers of spring ------------------ What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~ - George Eliot IP: Logged |