three things that help me...

1. My full spectrum light box-- an hour a day does the trick. Much more than that, and I fidget like I've overdosed on caffeine (which I don't drink, so how would I know? Somehow I do. Maybe I drink it when I'm not looking.)

2. Getting out of town in January or February, someplace warm. And sunny. Arizona. Disneyland. St. George during a freak winter heat wave.

3. Having something to look forward to. Dinner with friends. A road trip. Spending my MacArthur grant money.

Oh yeah, and number

4. Starting the week off with your column.

Normally I kind of enjoy winter (I'm a little strange that way). But that winter we had last year, it just about did me in. So my husband and I decided to use our tax return on a last minute trip to Hawaii in February, instead of getting a new fence. It was absolutely the right decision and THE best cure for the winter blues. I was sitting on an 80 degree beach talking to someone back home who was stuck in the midst of the infamous Valentine's Day eve storm, and I don't ever remember feeling so satisfied!

It's 61 on the first day of December. Sometimes I think Utah is turning into San Diego. Well, without the beach. I want snow!

That said, I survive on an almost daily dose of o.j., a weekly dose of Ann Cannon, and five or ten minutes standing outside, eyes scrunched tightly closed, face turned toward the sun.

p.s. I loved Finland. I can't wait to go back. Of course it was 60 degrees and sunny while I was there and it snowed here. Go figure.

Anti-depressants we all know the trick. It is part of the Utah culture and keeps our lives balanced.

I can't totally relate to the winter blues to the extent that you describe. But I do know I'm happy when the sun comes out.

When growing up in the Northwest, I noticed many women kept busy during the winter months with crafts of all kinds, sewing and knitting projects--anything creative. That seems to help, unless one gets full-blown depression, for which medication is necessary. True, Portland doesn't have snow very much, but RAIN and overcast skies are most of the mix from November through June.

I'm curious--do you do your best writing in the spring and summer? It seems that writing in the winter might help.

Temperature inversions through the winter here are the absolute worst. Keep praying for succeeding snowstorms!

I can only give worthless advice on this subject. I'd be happy in warm weather all year round, like, in countries near the equator.
Literally, the ONLY thing that helps me through the winter is remembering that winter clothes are more concealing than summer clothes. You can't actually tell what a person looks like under a heavy, thick coat. But summer skirts? Cotton t-shirts? Merciless.
And my birthday's in winter. And Christmas. So I guess there are three things.

You write a newspaper column, You can move south.
Your husband can find a job in a warmer climate.
Your children can visit you and the younger one(s)
still at home will survive in a non -chronic Lds atmosphere.
There may not be mts., but the constant sunshine
and warm is worth it. Loving Orlando.