Gloom and doom with a sense of precipitation

Posted by David Roberts at 1:45 PM on 21 Nov 2006

Read more about: Seattle

Does your blog proprietor seem sluggish and grumpy today? Perhaps it's because his home city, Seattle -- or as it's known around the house these days, "f**king Seattle" -- is in the midst of its rainiest November ever.

Outside my home office window, it is dark as night. The wind is blowing. The air is frigid. And if I'm not hallucinating, I think it just started hailing.

Kill me.

Update [2006-11-21 14:1:18 by David Roberts]: Oh, hey, speaking of darkness, does anybody out there know what's up with those full-spectrum lamps? Supposedly they make your body squirt happy chemicals? Anybody got one? Do they work or is it a scam? Know where I can find a cheap one? I have a feeling it's going to be a long, dark winter.

For story: Gloom and doom with a sense of precipitation
13 Comments | Post a Comment

You should see Fox Island...

So much sky water, and firewood is falling all around the house.

Cassandra thought she had SAD and wondered about lights. Heat from the wood fire makes her happy again.

by sunflower at 2:14 PM on 21 Nov 2006

Yeah, so glad I moved here.

The Grist intern feels her soul decay more and more each day.

Kate Sheppard

by Kate Sheppard at 4:31 PM on 21 Nov 2006

gloom; at least you have orcas

Yes, one hears so much about how the weather in Seattle is discouraging. No wonder you all turn inwards, and drink strong coffee, and create cute websites.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 5:19 PM on 21 Nov 2006

I know I couldn't take it

I know it's a wonderful place, but this is the reason I've never even considered living in the US northwest. I get depressed when two or three days go by without good sun - I can't even imagine what a month of dark skies and rain would do to the soul.

I'm writing this from Hong Kong, where it's been dark and rainy since I arrived Sunday night. Despite the heavy rain, the air pollution here has been terrible. It's intensely Blade Runner-esque. Three days are enough - I can't wait to get back to Indonesia and sun.

Robert Delfs

by Robert Delfs at 1:23 AM on 22 Nov 2006

full spectrum

is mostly a marketing thing. What's more important is the volume of light (bright, bright light). I also suspect that the warm heat from a fire would work wonders. Not that there's any dry wood there, I'm just saying.

by mihan at 6:39 AM on 22 Nov 2006

CNY

I went to school in Syracuse and the low-hanging cloud cover from about November to April always killed me. No rain... but lake effect snow (spitting, constant, grainy snow, every day, not a big fun storm, just relentlessly there).

My grades were lower every Spring, my sleep patterns were horrible, I skipped (more) classes, I ate poorly... one Spring semester I contracted mononucleosis. Fun stuff.

I am convinced that my Mom has SAD, so I did a little bit of research on light boxes. There is clinical data that support that they work, not only in alleviating depresssion symptoms, but also in quantitative measures of melatonin production and in phase shifts of circadian rhythm. However, it seems you have to actually have SAD in order for the light therapy to be of benefit - it's probably not going to cheer you up if you don't have the biochemical imbalance associated with SAD.

That being said, the boxes aren't too horribly expensive - seem to be about $200. Here's one on Amazon. Of course, spending $200 if you don't even know you have SAD might be a bit wasteful, and you know how we pesky environmental types feel about waste. A more economical option to try might be to pick up a copy of Winter Blues, a self-help book about dealing with SAD, or this, much more amusingly titled one, Don't Jump! a book specifically written for those living through a Northwest winter (both authors live in Seattle!).

Personally, I find there's not much in life that red wine can't cure..... organic red wine, natch.

by kmp at 7:02 AM on 22 Nov 2006

The sun shines in Georgia

Just want you to know - there are really good things about living in the South.

Aunt Phyllis

by pbearden47 at 8:37 AM on 22 Nov 2006

syracuse

Yep, that gray cloud never goes away. It was actually sunny today, too bad I'm too hung over to make it out.

by atreyger at 1:12 PM on 22 Nov 2006

colored light works for me

Check out the Dinshah Society webpage at http://www.dinshahhealth.org/. This somewhat funky non-profit promotes color therapy.

I bought a theatrical-type light canister and colored gels (for about $50), and I shine different colored light on myself, while I work. It seems to improve my mood.

Dinshah thinks the full-spectrum light thing is just a scam.

lindaloo

by lindaloo at 7:59 AM on 23 Nov 2006

It works Dave

It's that third eye stimulation.

But the wind is blowing? Plus there is plenty of wave power (and river and ocean current) power out there. Look on the bright side, even the cloudy NW can be powered by indirect (wind,wave and water) solar energy.

But I think for pure endorphin blues-ending stimulation, nothing beats exersize. An hour a day keeps the need for prescription anti-depressants away! And allows one to drink beer/wine and eat like a gourmet without getting plump.

Bike in the rain or on an electricty generating stationary bike in your home/office. Yippee!

(Under the full spectrum light, powered by the bike/generator, hehey)

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

by amazingdrx at 9:04 AM on 23 Nov 2006

"The sun shines in Georgia"

I think it did in Mordor too. Even Sauron could not block the sun completely.

The evil lord Cheney of Halliburton can though. Halliburton has a plan to annex the necessary orbital space then block the sunlight that normally hits the earth with huge satelites.

Then they will charge by the square foot to restore your sunlight.

Just kiding, hehehehey. Hope Cheney is too!

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

by amazingdrx at 9:14 AM on 23 Nov 2006

I love the rain

Soak in the gloom while we have it.

All to soon, Northern California climate will move north to Seattle, then move to the north shore of Vancouver Island.

I pray for a hard cold clear freeze this winter. Our trees need relief from the killer beetles.

Global warming gloom is far more depressing than Seattle rain.

P.S. I had a question on the carbon forcing/feedback. What causes the reverse? What caused the carbon reduction and cooling in the ice core data?

by sunflower at 9:54 AM on 23 Nov 2006

Send Us Some Rain

Beijing would love some of your rain! As would Northern China in general. Actually, we are supposed to get rain or snow today and tomorrow, we hope!!

Luckily the wind blew away the smog from earlier in the week, and it looks nice out.

Winter is coming all across the North!! Try to enjoy it!

patrick

by bookerly at 5:43 PM on 23 Nov 2006

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