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The Goderich Signal-Star, 2009-02-11, Page 17Goderich Signal -:.tar, Wednesday, February 11, 2009 - Page Al7 Humanity's inability to synchronize with seasonal weather Ah, winter in Huron County. For the,snow- mobilers and skiers, this is paradise. But why do the rest of us suffer so? Why do so many of us count the weeks till spring? Why are we dying to trade in our shovel for the lawn mower?Why can't we make the most of our winter wonderland? The biggest problem is that as a species, we human beings don't like to roll with the seasons. Regardless of what season it is, we. want to maintain the same routine, the sane levels of productivity, and the same life. And a lot of this comes from the shift to living in town from living on the farm. When we lived on the farm, our lives natu- rally shifted with the seasons. In the spring, we tilled and sowed the land. In the summer we harvested hay and watched our crops grow. In the fall, we -harvested the crops for winter. And then, when winter came and the • snow fell, we rested along with the land. But when we work in offices and busi- nesses,. we expect the same level of produc- tivity all year long regardless of what month it is. As far as the business is concerned, the month of the year is irrelevant (unless of course you're in retail). There is no downtime Then we take this mentality home with us. Regardless of what month it is, Sarah has to get to piano lessons, and Charlie has to get to hockey. There are meetings to go to, events to attend, and so on and so on. We lead busy lives regardless of the season — and sometimes we're even busier in the winter! We honour no cycle of the seasons. There is no winter downtime for us. There is no rest and regeneration time. It is simply go -go-go. But in effect, this isn't reasonable. We are just carbon -based life forms on this planet like the bears, the birds, and the soil that rests all winter. We are connected to the same yearly cycle. We are not separate from it. Having these great big brains makes us think that we run according to a different set of rules. But it isn't true. We are connected to our envi- ronment whether we like it or not. If you close your eyes, you can feel the difference in the seasons. You can.imagine what spring FEELS like. You can feel the newness, the freshness - you can almost FEEL the greenness of the grass. Then imagine what summer FEELS like. It feels dif- ferent. It is dryer, hotter, "yellower". We know it right "down to our bones". And when we then imag- ine what fall or winter feels like, it feels different again. When our schedules and ide- als keep us hopping regardless of the season, we end up work- ing against our own bodies. We end up with an inner struggle be- tween the expectations that we've' set up for ourselvesand the body's natural tendency to attempt to adjust to the seasons. We end up exhausted, sick, depressed, and just generally feeling blah. So what can we do about it? How can we adjust to the seasons? How do we synchro- nize our bodies and minds with wintertime? The great thing is that we instinctively al- ready know how. This is the time of year when we want to curl up in a blanket and read. We want to go to bed earlier. We want to eat thick soups and hearty foods that stick to our ribs. Blit overall,. we just want to slow down — we want to rest and recuperate. Deep down, we know that we need some down- time — time to repair from the last season and time to'build up our stores to get ready for the next. May- be it's taking time for a bath. Maybe it's cutting out a couple of extra -curricular activities (but not my yoga classes!). May- be it's simply allow- ing ourselves to go to bed half an hour ear- lier — or even an hour 7.6 Photo by Dominique Milburn • Rockin' the funds Self -published author Pete Henry handed over $1,137.40 to the CT Scanner for Huron County campaign recently. The sum came from all proceed received from his book, Rockin' the Boat,' a collection of letters to the editor Henry has written and compiled over the years. He joined Hospital Foundation representative Tom Fincher at Fincher's book shop to confirm the donation. RETIRE IN COMFORT B()Ok an (Mika -live pri\te ` lit(' & save $20()/ti i01 1111 toi t ' f un n \'ear' 11)( 1. 1< <1 111(11-\. )( ('Io'( '' 'drip; > 1 I ii I- Godeth ice turrwavagnitalaweet Call for details. 519-524-4243 www.goderichplace.com 30 BALVINA DRIVE E., GODERICH • earlier with a nice book. This is a time to just let the mind and body rest — just like the ground underneath all that snow. The soil isn't stressing about the.snow. It's just using the snow as an insulating blan- ket while it rests and gets ready for spring. Hmm... Enjoying winter's insulating blan- ket of snow to rest as we relax, recuperate, and get ready for spring... Hmm.. . Sounds good to me. VAN RIESEN FINANCIAL SERVICES INC. 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