Frozen Cheeks

Seasonal depression always seems to sneak up on me the week of Thanksgiving. It is the start of the cold days and dark nights. The initial hit of what the next four to five months will be like always seems unbearable until a proactive system is developed to avoid the depression.

Silly as it may be, this year I plan on investing my energies into knitting the most beautiful afghan to use as a picnic and beach blanket for next summer. Most women my age would never dare let something like a hand knit blanket touch the dirt or sand. It is the act of creating it for the sole purpose of soaking in the sunshine and getting stained with grass that will save me from the sad, lonely winter months.

As I knit my mind will wander to all the places this blanket will travel when the world outside defrosts. Carefully chosen shades of greens and blues will counteract the overcasts skies and gray ice covered lake.

I went on a walk with my male companion in the cold sunshine today. The park trail was strangely quiet compared to when we would walk the path in the warmer months. The muffled silence was broken by large crackling noises. We looked down the hill towards the river to discover that the water changing to ice created the disruption of our quiet walk.

His personality seemed to be freezing over much like the river over the past couple weeks.  Seasonal depression affects a lot of people and it’s no wonder why there is a bar on every corner and one in the middle of the block here in Milwaukee. With frozen cheeks and a hint sadness he would look and me and smile. My heart was warmed because a smile like his can’t be forced under these icy conditions and I noticed he didn’t have a scarf as I watched a chill take over his body and shake out through his face.