I’ve a list that I’ve been compiling for several months now. Let’s call it what it is – “Lou’s anti-depression list for winter.” In our house, it’s no secret that I fight the winter blahs. Or that the blahs have been getting deeper every winter recently. My dance card is filled with activities until January 1. But it slows down rapidly past that.
It’s the “dead” of winter, January until, say, the last week of February, that offers the reefs I can pile up on. Six to seven weeks of low activity. If I get past that, I’m active with maple syrup making, outside work, and the garden. Arthritis in the feet and back robbed me of working in martial arts, and activities like snowshoeing, which saw me through those awful weeks.
Not wanting to give in, and wishing to avoid prescriptions for mood, I’ve started listing activities. Being active seems to strike right at the heart of the issue. I’m at about eight activities. They include reenrolling in physical therapy, Yoga, learning new games, and a bunch of other stuff.
A Conversation
But the easiest and the best is walk of about twelve steps away from where I sit at the dining room table. It’s my old travel guitar, Charlie. Not waiting until winter, I started playing again at the beginning of May. Today I seemed to cross a line. Charlie woke up in my arms, and we started an improvisation on a progression in G. We had a conversation. Just like in the old days. ” Yeah, that’s it. Nooo. Wait, what resolves that? Ahhh, E minor, cool.” ” So when do we hit the road again?” “Shit, man we’re past that stuff.” ” Bull Shit! I want a gig!” ” Hey, I’ll tell you what. We work on the progressions and tunes. Then we get to work on the broken cracker box that’s my voice, and we’ll see.” “OK, but you got to get me some new strings, and….” Well it went on like that.
We played for over an hour today. Maybe that sounds like a lot. But in the day, I played a minimum of two hours every day – minimum. This may be the best thing for the Blahs, and it’s only a walk of twelve steps.
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That sounds a grand 12 steps, Lou. Probably about the same distance as I walk to mine. I do play for a few hours some days and yet leave it alone altogether on another day. It is good for the soul, playing music. 🙂
Great to hear from you Trev! I didn’t know that you played!
Yes, I have been playing over 50 years. 😊
Trans Atlantic jams are hard to negoiate, and I’m really rusty right now…but maybe in a few months we’ll see!
Everybody needs something special to perk them up through Jan and Feb. I’ve even heard that learning an instrument can stave of dementia. Maybe you could take up playing the violin next winter. 😉
I think that you are right about learning new things staving off dementia. But even without that as a threat stasis is not good of us. I will continue to add to the list! Thanks for commenting, Christine!
Playing guitar is always a mood enhancer and I get lost in time as well especially if a new riff appears
This is very very beautiful, optimistic, and realistic (they don’t always go together). I loved reading it.
Thank you, Martha. It can be a struggle.
I know. I normally deal with that in June and July which isn’t uncommon, just less known, I guess. I don’t know about this year which is already pretty damned strange. I will probably end up with a lot of apple drawings by August 😁
We do what we can.
🍎🎸