Winter’s breath arrived in a huff today, leaving a couple inches of snow in its wake. I was both dreading the snow and looking forward to it. Having grown up and lived in Illinois all my life, I’m used to the bitterly cold winters. There’s something exciting about the first snowfall of the season. The christmas tree is up. The house is decorated with lights. It’s pretty. But with the onset of winter comes seasonal affective disorder (SAD), aka the “winter blues”, aka seasonal depression. I first noticed its symptoms a few years ago, and it has returned without fail every year since. There are things that can be done to overcome this illness, such as exercise and increasing the amount of sunlight you receive. I’ll have to try adjusting my normally sedate lifestyle to include these steps. The difficulty I’ve found in getting more sunlight is subjecting myself to the cold. I’m not sure that the cure is worse than the condition.