FUN | OPTIMISM

A Cure For Your Winter Doldrums

We all need something to look forward to

The skies are gray, yet again.

With the windchill it feels like negative eight degrees, and you’ve just submerged a boot into some gray-black street sludge that was deeper, much deeper than you expected.

Your nose is running and the too-many layers are confusing your body into a constant state of too-cold and now-I’m-too-hot.

Just another day deep in the doldrums of winter.

What’s an occasional optimist to do?

Any psychologist worth her salt will tell you, it always helps to have something to look forward to in life.

Like a glossy travel brochure promising pristine sunny beaches, allow me to share with you reminders that spring — yes, spring! — is just around the corner.

As a Southern California road-tripper, I thought I’d seen it all, that I’d found all the secret nooks and crannies of beauty. Imagine my surprise last April when my partner Eddie and I were introduced to the city of Carlsbad, California’s Flower Fields. How had we missed this?

From the highway it’s as if a meticulous painter took his brush across the nearby hills. Ranunculus flowers only — who knew? Multiple varieties planted within view of the ocean.

I’ve never been to The Netherlands, so for now this has to be my version of the tulip fields.

But if perfectly-planted flowers aren’t your scene, never fear, you can also find superb beauty across the hills, “in the wild” as it were. Wildflowers will be there waiting for you once you get through these winter months.

Just north of Los Angeles a few years back, we finally made the trek up to see the famous California poppy fields that explode across the local landscape in Lancaster. And we’re talking everywhere, not just in the dedicated preserve itself.

Another favorite springtime destination for us is the desert near Palm Springs, namely Anza-Borrego, California’s largest state park and an ideal locale for witnessing the miraculous wildflowers that paint the desert floor. Somehow the wide open spaces of the desert only compliment the hues.

Mmmm, you can almost smell the crisp air and the flowering aroma.

I know, you’re trudging through the snow, battling the brisk winds and icy roads so this is seeming like a vicious tease. You wanna scream at me —

“I just scraped a windshield, I just shoveled my drive, and you want me to look at flowers and sunshine?!?!”

Why, yes!

This is your path, your lifeline through the next two months. There is light at the end of the tunnel, and roses await. Beautiful English gardens with little old ladies marveling at nature’s continued brilliance.

So hold onto your resolve, sister.

Make a commitment, brother.

You can make it through this mess. We believe in you!

Spring and flowers await, just around the corner.

So get that spring in your step… just watch out for that ice.

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