The Difference Between Summer & Winter

The difference between Summer & Winter is that in the Winter, I don't have to worry much about poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac, ticks, chiggers, fleas, or mosquitoes. And in the Summer I don't have to put Vic's Vapor Rub in my nose, Theraflu on my gut, and this ridiculous wool hat on my head.

Of course, the light strikes the earth at different angles, and sticks around for different durations. It's warmer. Or it's cooler. You're drinking hot coffee or cold lemonade. You're trying to cozy up. You're trying to chill out.

In Winter, I always tend towards depression. Not a clinical depression, and not Seasonal Affective Disorder (depression caused by seasonal lack of UV light). It's more like my own psychic energy is running like sap, back down to the roots of my mind. I tend to withdraw socially, laugh less, and ponder the more grave issues of my provisional life. Often, during the Winter, I listen to more Leonard Cohen, and I worry about where we are all headed.

Today, I was downtown, watching all the shoppers darting in and out of the upscale gift shops. "I lack their mirth," I said to myself. And then I bought a cup coffee for a dollar. On the cup were written the words, "Have A Nice Day."