Spring is coming?

Cures for cabin fever:

• When you see the sun, drop everything and take the opportunity, no matter what you’re doing, to get outside. Encourage those in the room with you to do the same.

• Go to the TMZ Web site or pick up a copy of People magazine or the National Enquirer or Star tabloids. After finding out all about the many problems of celebrities living in places like southern California, the warmer climate there may not seem quite as tempting.

• Take up a new sport. How about curling? The Norfolk Curling Club is hosting clinics now, after having had two well-attended days of open houses last weekend. Hanging around on the ice for a while will make it seem warmer anywhere else you go.

• Plan a vacation to a warmer climate. Never mind if you can’t afford a vacation with this economy. You don’t have to go, just plan it. And maybe if you plan it far enough in advance, by the time you’re supposed to leave, the economy will have improved and it will be possible that you might be able to actually go. Just hope it’s not the middle of the summer when it all comes together.

• If you’re thinking you’ll need to take a careful look at the household budget before planning that vacation, go ahead and do that, and then compare your household deficit to that of the state of Connecticut. Odds are you’ll realize that you’re doing better at tightening your belt than you thought. But don’t continue thinking about Connecticut’s looming deficit for too long: the inevitability of higher taxes down the road will make those cabin walls start to close in again.

• Visit one of the garden centers or flower shops in the area and take a breather in their greenhouse. No matter what you find in there, it will give you hope that things will start growing and turning green again, and spring will eventually come.

• While you’re at the garden center, or the supermarket, or convenience store, for that matter, pick up a bouquet of flowers. Take it to someone you know who might also need a bit of a break from winter.

• Think about all those winter sports that were in evidence at the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Remember that having watched them on TV or online doesn’t equate with taking up a new sport (See third item, above.)

• Keep track of how many additional minutes of light there are each day. Yes, the days are getting longer, bit by bit by bit.

• Find a way to have a change of scene. Take a drive to a town you haven’t been to all winter. Take a walk on a road that’s been off your winter list of destinations. Or, maybe your next-door neighbor would be willing to switch homes for a week?

• See top item and repeat.

Suggestions, anyone? They’d be much appreciated. Send a letter to the editor, or just a comment, to editor@lakevillejournal.com, with the subject line: cabin fever.

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