Winter SAD clamped down on me over a week ago. Started to feel like I was going crazy. Watching TV, playing The Sims, and trekking to the grocery store all lost their appeal although I continued to do all three. Staleness set in. The gray fuzziness of the day crept into my brain and turned my whole being into a gray fuzz. I've been so needing of diversion that I've been trying to pick a fight with my poor husband. A fight about what? About my dreary life. He comes home bubbly and it annoys me. He is being his stable, charming self and it irritates me. I glower at him at the dining table. He gets to go out and be around people. Have a purpose. I get to sulk to the cats all day and fondly remember how I used to be involved in projects. What I need to do is fondly remember how happy I felt but a month ago.

Everyone should have a rainbow maker like this one pictured here. This isn't the best picture of it because, well, of course, it's gray again outside. This was a Christmas present from my hubby who is always trying to find ways to brighten up my life. Only trouble with it is that I need a rainbow maker that will make rainbows on cloudy days, too. This unit only works when the sun hits the top receptacle. It's a miniature solar collector. You stick it to the window where you hope the sun will shine on it. The collector heats up and spins the gears inside the round part which in turn spins the crystal that is suspended from it. The sun's rays refract off the crystal. Then you get little blobs of rainbows spinning all around the room. They spill out into the hallway and even as far as the living room. But the key to the whole operation, like I said, is that the sun has to be shining. Sigh.

Bird watching comes to a near standstill this time of year, too. It's too messy for me to be able to out and walk the meadows and too snow covered for me to walk the forest paths. Bill sent me an article from the New York Times (he's an avid online reader especially about W's antics) about a man who does birding inside an art museum when the weather is too frightful to do it outside. It's a remarkable concept. There are numerous birds depicted in paintings. You also need a European and a South American guidebook if you want to try to identify them all.

Speaking of birds, I came across this in my archives and thought I'd share it. It is a list of bird groups. Where anyone ever came up with these, is way beyond me but they are amusing. So, the next time you see a bunch of sparrows quarreling in the bushes you can call out to your mate and say, "Honey, come look at the chattering of sparrows, there's too many to count." Some of these make sense but others sure don't.