This past weekend it was a balmy 24 degrees for the high on most of Saturday and Sunday here in the Northeast. Many of you might grimace at this information, especially if you live in Maine or New Hampshire and routinely experience a six month winter. You're even more likely to look at this photo of me on the Lincoln Woods trail, deep in the heart of the mountains, and think I'm crazy, right? What you may not realize is that, along with some good friends and my husband I was practicing the art of making peace with the cold, given the fact that we can't change it and would certainly get very depressed hanging around inside all winter. (What you can't see in this particular photo is the fact that all four of us had just driven two hours North to see the Ice Castles, basically, an ambitious bunch of ice towers near Loon Mountain - all freezing stuff)!
But, there's method to the madness: Get out in nature after you've sufficiently bundled up, experience it's beauty, yield to it, and you'll be taking a natural anti-depressant! So, whatever feels most comfortable to you - downhill skiing, cross country skiing, snow shoeing, ice skating, or just plain trail walking with your dog, if you have one - any of these activities will help you not only get through the very long New England winter, but will give you exercise, social contact, a happy dog and communion with nature. All very good things....
