Wichita Rain Falls Activates SAD Seasonally Affected Disorder

That is the late in the afternoon Tuesday view from one of my south facing windows you are looking at here.

Rain began dropping soon after the sun began it daily illumination duties this morning.

The dripping has gone into downpour mode multiple times.

Judging from the empty planter sitting on my deck several inches have dropped.

It took just one day for me to get SAD.

Seasonally Affected Disorder.

This day has been much too good a reminder of what a stereotypical fall/winter/spring day in my old home location in Western Washington is like. Day after day after day after day of gray drippage.

However, major difference from my current SAD location. At my location in Western Washington I could go a few miles to the west and be in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, where a desert level of annual precipitation make for a reliable rain-free experience.

Or I could drive further, heading east over the Cascade Mountains, where the rain shadow caused by that mountain range also causes a desert level of annual precipitation.

No matter what direction I go from my current location it would take hundreds of miles of driving to find any sort of rain shadow. Or a mountain. Well, a real mountain. I am a short distance from the Mount Wichita pseudo mini-volcano.

I hope the rain dries up by tomorrow morning when I make my monthly trek to the D/FW zone...

Lord Baby Jesus Please Let The People Learn To Drive In The Rain

I saw that which you see here on Facebook a couple minutes ago, a meme from something called Olympia Memes.

Olympia is the capital of  the state of Washington. I don't know if Olympia being the state capital has anything to do with Olympia Meme being so named.

I do know that Washington has been much too dry for much to long, til lately. Apparently some people are being vexed by Washington drivers not driving well in the rain. Others blame California transplants.

My current location, a little north of being deep in the heart of Texas, is, weather-wise, being a stereotypical Western Washington Puget Sound lowlands type winter day.

Gray and a slow motion rain, off and on.

On Saturday I read a report or two, again via Facebook, that snow flakes were falling on the Kent Highlands. Kent is a suburb south of Seattle. The Kent Highlands are the area of Kent up on a high bluff above the flat lowlands. I have heard of no snow falling in my old homezone of the Skagit Valley. The lowlands of the Skagit Valley are known as a Banana Belt. Snow can fall and stick in copious amounts in the next county north of Skagit, that being Whatcom, whilst the Skagit zone gets nary a flake.

Lowland Washington drivers are just about as bad as Texans when a rare snowstorm makes roads slippery. Maybe not as bad as Texans due to the fact that lowland Washingtonians can easily get some snow driving practice by heading a few miles east, to the Cascade mountain zone. There are no mountain zone snow opportunities at my current location for hundreds of miles. Probably Colorado would be the closest location one might find a mountain with snow, currently.

I really do not know if I will be able to adjust to living in Western Washington again. Just one day of this gray Texas dripping has me suffering a mild case of SAD (Seasonally Affected Disorder).

I did manage to go swimming this morning, which sort of surprised me. For very selfish reasons I am really becoming a fan of global warming. I went running in the rain in the noon time frame. Running in my neighborhood zone.

A Storm Respite Returns Blue Sky To North Texas

Look what has returned to my location in North Texas.

Others are reporting seeing the same thing.

Blue sky.

With nary a cloud to be seen in any direction from my patio viewing platform on the outer world.

This morning I am in the best mood I have been in since the day before May 9.

Why?

I have no idea. Have I been experiencing SAD (Seasonally Affected Disorder)?

The gray gloom that has hovered over Texas for much of May is a lot like a stereotypical Western Washington winter, pre-drought. Day after day after day of gray. With rain.

I did not know Washington made me SAD until I left Washington on a rainy winter day, arriving in Texas six days later to find my spirits suddenly lifted by day after day of warm temperatures and blue sky.

And then my first ice storm experience hit with a cold shock rendering me temporarily SAD again.

Storms are predicted to return this afternoon, followed by more tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and the day after that, on into the foreseeable future.

I suspect I shall soon be SAD again....

Martin Luther King Day With Blue Sky At Village Creek Thinking About An Unstoppable Woman, A Hotpepper & A Grammar Challenged Queen

You are looking at an impoundment of part of Village Creek, at least I think it is part of Village Creek, although the main branch of the creek is to the left of the water in the picture. This impoundment may have something to do with the system that puts water in to the cool canals of Interlochen.

But. What is really important about this picture is something else that is shows.

Can you see it?

Blue sky has returned to my zone of North Texas.

And it is almost 60 degrees.

I really was starting to suffer my first bout of SAD of this winter. If I remember correctly I had several bouts of Seasonally Affected Disorder last winter.

I never was a SAD sufferer when I lived in Western Washington. A place with way more SAD type days than North Texas has. I guess I had developed a tolerance for drippy, gray days when I was a Washingtonian and Texas has caused me to lose my immunity.

Texas has caused me to lose so many things.

I heard from my favorite Unstoppable Woman today. The Unstoppable Woman is just about my favorite person I ever worked with to make a website. So many people do not communicate well. The Unstoppable Woman knew exactly what she wanted and was able to explain exactly what she wanted. It made it all so easy.

My other favorite Unstoppable Woman, Elsie Hotpepper, well, it goes without saying you really can not stop the Hotpepper. Even if you are foolish enough to try. Anyway, Elsie is safely back from her long weekend of tropical island saloon hopping.

And then there is the Queen of Wink. Near as I can tell her Wink Realm is growing evermore chaotic. I am not even certain that the Queen is still the Queen and has not been replaced by a King, who is now keeping the former Queen prisoner in the Wink Tower.

I got the oddest message from the Queen of Wink this morning, going on about her grammar errors, which the Queen called grammatical errors, as she complained, out of nowhere, about me being a Grammar Bully. I don't even know what a Grammar Bully is, let alone how to be one. And then, in her message complaining about me being a Grammar Bully, the Queen made at least one rather bad grammar error. I'd point it out, but I don't want to be a bully.

So, there you go, my exciting Martin Luther King Day. So far.

I Am Drowning & Going Over A Cliff In Texas

That's what I'm feeling like. Deep underwater with a very flimsy lifeline and a dull light trying to illuminate my darkness.

Last night I had a bad nightmare. I was driving along side a very blue river with rapids. There were a lot of people on various floating devices floating both directions on the river rapids. At times the rapids got to a Colorado River in the Grand Canyon level of rapid.

I keep glancing over at the river and the people on it, when suddenly I realize the road has turned, but I have not. I slam into a big bump of rocks, get over it and keep driving on a very rough rocky surface. My passenger is yelling that I have to get back on the road.

But, I could not stop the vehicle, could not turn it around, could not slow down.

And then I went over a cliff and woke up.

That's how today started, waking up, after taking a death drop off a cliff. While everyone else was having fun floating in a river.

It is another drab, gray day here in North Texas, in more ways than three. I'm guessing I have come down with one of my bouts of SAD (Seasonally Affected Disorder). I don't remember feeling SAD when I lived in the Pacific Northwest. I always liked gray, foggy days up there. I think over exposure to too many blue skies days in Texas has altered my psyche.

Feeling SAD At Lake Fosdic In Oakland Lake Park

It has been days since the sky in my zone of Texas has been blue. Day after day has me having my first SAD bout in a long time. I succumb to Seasonally Affected Disorder very quickly.

During yesterday's downpour I had to do something aerobic to counter my growing SADness. So, I went to Sam's Club and loaded up a cart with heavy stuff and proceeded to careen all the aisles, dodging legitimate customers.

Monday is another cloudy day, real cloudy, but so far no rain. So, I went to Oakland Park to walk around Oakland Lake Park which surrounds Lake Fosdic. There is no Lake Fosdic Park.

Due to the heavy rain, Fosdic Falls was falling a little water. All the litter had been swept away and the lake returned to a natural, non-green color.

The Trinity River is running a little high today. It was running over the dam/bridge by Gateway Park.

Gray Sky and Thawed Swimsuits in Fort Worth

Today the bone-chilling freeze of Fort Worth lifted. My swimsuit thawed and was once more wearable. It is a balmy 45 at 4 in the afternoon.

We have been covered by gray skies for 3 days in a row. I am slipping ever deeper into Seasonally Affected Disorder. A couple hours ago the gray skies started to drop little bits of moisture. The Weather Service just issued an alert for Dense Fog tonight.

In other words, even though the weather is being a living hell, here in Texas, this morning, unlike yestermorning, I managed to get in the pool. I lasted all of 2 minutes. It was by far the coldest yet. Which, I guess, makes sense, due to the temps not getting above freezing for about 48 hours.

My getting in the pool in the morning is starting to be an issue with the neighbors. I was told, minutes ago, that someone called the paper to tell them they had a crazy Yankee who was going swimming every morning, one of those damn Polar Bear Yankees. I will not cooperate with someone wanting to do a story about a damn crazy Polar Bear Yankee going swimming in Texas in December. Especially if it's the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Swimming Does Not Make Me SAD

I've noticed the telltale signs that SADness has begun to take its annual toll on those in the gray, wet, cold Pacific Northwest.

Seasonally Affected Disorder (SAD) is also known as winter depression or winter blues. Those affected with SAD may sleep too much, have little energy and crave sweets and starchy foods. In other words, being SAD can make you fat.

When I was up in Tacoma, this past summer, I felt SAD almost from the time I landed. By the time I was back in the air, a month later, I was really SAD. It took about a week of Texas sun and heat to put an end to my SADness.

You people who live with SADness need to get yourself to some sunlight. Drive over to Eastern Washington. It's usually sunny there. Or get a sunlamp. And get yourself vertical and go do something physical outside, even though it's cold and raining. That's what long underwear and umbrellas were made for, to keep you warm and dry.

In Texas I never experience SADness, likely for a variety of reasons. Including, everyday I go swimming, early in the morning. The low this morning was 41, at midnight the temperature was 52. When I went swimming this morning it'd warmed up to 48. It's a bit past 10am now and it's 65. I think by the time I got out of the pool it was in the 60s because I was able to warm up in the sun, as you can see in the photo.