Are you feeling SAD?

One of our fellow bloggers has written how I sometimes feel at this time of year, "I'm tired and grumpy." In response, I wrote the following and decided to cross post it here:

As far as feeling in a gray zone, that is typical

for many people as we get into the darkest time of the year. Take a look at this article on SAD. My winter routine is to try to get outdoors for a few minutes on my lunch hour when the sun is shining. Exercise also helps. I know your mileage may vary. No matter the cause, feeling gray or disconnected is hard--be it at Christmastime or the 4th of July. Fortunately we live in an age when many positive options are available to take advantage of. What options do you see that might help?"

What do you my reader(s) say? Any other ideas to carry this discussion forward?

Invincible Summer

I like winter. It's a change of pace that brings water to the desert. But each year, winter in reality seems so much colder, so much deadlier than I remember it. Fortunately this winter I can vividly recall memories of my most recent summer. I didn't get outdoors as much as I usually do, but the time I spent in the sunshine will long be remembered. This summer that something "just out of reach, down the block, on a beach, under a tree" was in fact there. The something was and is hard to define, but it certainly includes friendship, brotherhood, camaraderie, respect, learning, boundaries, knowledge, laughter and more. The holiday of Thanksgiving is over, but I still find myself in a thankful mood and I am reminded of the quotation by Albert Camus: "In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer."

Thanksgiving thoughts

things I'm thankful for:

home, health, hearth, heart, help, hunger, Harvey

equality, the ideal of it, anyway; entertainment

questions, quality, qualifications

understanding, unity

inspiration, insulation, instructions, ink

creeks, cats, children, cheese, classics, Christ

kindness, Keith, kites, kits, kitchens

brothers, Bravone, Beck, beauty, beards, being bi

room, rest, recreation, responsibilities, records

opportunties, offerings, October

wife, wealth, weather, wisdom, wonder, winning

nurturing, negatives, nesting, nature, noses, news, newspapers, Natasha & Borris

fire, firemen, frugality, fruit, felines, food, fabric, fun, frivolity, February

order, orders, ordervs spelled incorrectly

x-rays, xerography

joy, jumping, jelly, Jello, January, John, Jonathan, June, July

us, US, USA, the former USSR

music, musicals, museums, "the muse", May, milk, milkshakes, MILK, movies, Mormonism

priorities, power, positives, Panguitch, Provo, Parley P. Pratt, Parley's Canyon, priesthood

swimming, success, sunshine, sunsets, sunrise, sons, sons-in-law, September, Scott

organs, organic approaches, organisms, orgasm, organization, organizations

virtue, virility, value, verbs, valiance, My Funny Valentine

eating, Evan, entertaining, experiencing, email, estrogen,

Robert, relationships, reality, returning, reuniting, Ricardo, radio, revelation

trips, tanks, Tchaikovsky, the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog, testosterone

halls, humor, Halloween, Holy Ghost, hearing, Howard, "oh my heck", heart monitors

Edison, electricity, electronics, Ed, Eve, Ella, Ethan, envelopes, enter key, entrances

love, Las Vegas, lakes, liver function, Les Miserables, luck, light, lighting, lightning

atomosphere, atoms, Adam, August, April, Abe

zones, zip codes, zippers, zero

youth, yielding, yesses, yellow, yearning, years

Dustin, David, Doug, dice, deliverance, delight, decisions, decision-making

otters, others, orange, oranges, oral hygiene

Gabriel, guys, gays, gay guys, goodness, grace, Google, guts, glory, gates, grates, grapes

A Step Forward

Salt Lake OKs gay rights laws with Mormon backing

-The Associated Press

Pro-gay statutes win city, LDS nod

-The Salt Lake Tribune

Mormon church supports Salt Lake City's protections for gays

-Deseret News

Church supports nondiscrimination ordinances

-LDS Church Newsroom

Thanks to a Couple of Guys

Thanks, guys. It was so good to see you recently. You were out walking in my neighborhood with a stoller. I drove by first spotting you from behind, a couple of short haired people out and about on a sunny afternoon. Then as I got closer there was no doubt about it, you were two guys walking down the street, pushing a stroller. I decided to try for a picture, so I flipped a U turn and caught this one frame of you just as you walked up to your apartment.

It was so affirming to see you. It happened a few weeks ago and I haven't seen you since. Maybe because you were just visiting a friend who lives there. Maybe because you're not really a gay couple with a child. Maybe you were just a straight dad with his kid out on a walk with his buddy or a brother. Maybe you were a couple of guys in the neighboring ward's Elders Quorum just out doing your home teaching and taking your respective kids along. Maybe you were just a couple of brothers-in-law who were taking the kid or kids out for a walk while your wives enjoyed a sisterly chat. But I know that I did not just imagine you, because I do have the image, and to be honest, I've thought about you quite a bit.

Yes, I have lesbian neighbors with and without children, but to my knowlege no gay male couples--especially walking around with a baby stroller and an infant in your arms. That's why I was delighted to see you. If by chance you are Moho's reading this and recognize yourselves, I hope you'll be pleased that someone noticed, applauded and cared enough to try to capture the moment. And if not, well, it provided a happy diversion nonetheless.

p.s. To my fellow Moho community, does this blip on your 'dar, or is it just my wishful thinking?