Latitude Lassitude

In the northern latitudes, January heralds the coldest temperatures. Without going into the details of thermal equilibrium, blame the angle of the sun, ambient temperatures and, as polar plungers know, lower water temperatures.

The cold causes hibernation in fauna and endodormancy in flora. Man fares worse in winter. Our vestigial instinct bids us to increase caloric intake, hunker down and sleep out the season.

But, nooooo! Modern society tolerates no respite. We pursue insidious pressures to satiate the maw of Mammon. The 21st century has transformed the rat race into a rung wheel. Like Sisyphus, we labor futilely.

So, how do we keep the blues at bay until the vernal equinox proclaims the return of Ostara? I could pontificate on Seasonal Affective Disorder, light therapy, vitamin D and exercise, ad infinitum. But that is much too practical.


I combat the weather's weariness with words. January marks the birth of two of my favorite authors, Jack London and Lewis Carroll. I focus on London's work from his Yukon adventures. To Build a Fire and Call of the Wild, read on a cold night wrapped in a warm blanket lessens the sting of he season's frigid fury. While Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass offer escapism and the delight of word play.

Of course, you can always look forward to January 28 - National Kazoo Day. What better way to beat winter's blues than to place a membranophone between your lips and hum the humdrum from your mind? When SAD threatens to cause pain to my brain, I grab the kazoo, don my most colorful raiment and march through the neighborhood playing John Philip Sousa.

If nothing else, the gaping looks of the confused, somewhat annoyed, neighbors is sure to warm the cockles.  As ever - BB

"Contrariwise, if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic." - Lewis Carroll