Still, I have...
THE WARMTH OF THE SUN...
...within me tonight...(old Beach Boys' song from the '60s)

I absolutely crave being outside with the warmth of the sun as it shines down on everyone and everything. For me, Spring is the beginning of life anew for yet another year. I'm outside in Spring and Summer as much as I can be. As Summer ends, and slips into Autumn, I can feel the year coming to an end, as if the year only has "so long" left to live, and as the rest of the year passes, it gets darker, gloomier, colder, and all of a sudden, it's not there any more.

I get depressed with cold, short, dark days. I feel as if I've adopted a "bunker mentality", that of being under siege, enduring the snow, ice, rain, cold, wind and sleet. The simplest of tasks becomes more difficult as forward progress is impeded by the fear of falling on the ice and breaking the ol' back and other vital body parts. More than anything, as I age, I do indeed feel the acceleration of time as it just zips by.

Last winter, I did a little something that helped somewhat. I found a picture of Coeur d'Alene's City Beach, in the middle of summer, with blue skies, blue water and people enjoying themselves in the heat...and I put that picture on my computer monitor, so when I flipped on my computer, that's the first image I would see. And you know, that helped a bit. As I gazed at that picture, I could swear I felt at least a few degrees warmer, even though I was viewing it in the seemingly endless murky frozen depths of Old Man Winter.

You can go into a ton of websites (I would suggest www.webshots.com) to find sunny pictures of Coeur d'Alene, but if you're too lazy to do that (hey, it's cold, rainy, and windy; believe me, I understand)...you can use the picture I've provided below. This one, though, goes back into the 1960's, so there are certain tall monstrosities you won't see in the foreground. Enjoy the warmth of the picture, and when you get down with the winter blahs, find something like this to look at. It does help. I speak from personal experience...



City Beach, Coeur d'Alene, with Playland Pier in the background, in the 1960's. Look closely and you'll see the ferris wheel and the circular swings on the pier in the background. Who knows, I might have been on the beach the day this was taken. Save this photo for when you are shivering some cold winters' night as you're trying to decide how warm you want your home to be without going over your heating budget...
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...and if that fails, break out into a rousing rendition of Nat King Cole's "Lazy-Hazy-Crazy-Days of Summer"...you know, "those days with soda...and pretzels...and beer"....dont'cha feel warmer already?