How do you deal with constant dreary weather?

It’s cold here, but I don’t find it dreary. I like the range of seasons – there are interesting things to do in all of them. The only time I don’t really like walking the dog is when it’s very hot – so I just wait til 11 p.m. or midnight on those horrible summer days. In winter, there is skiing and skating and walking and kite-flying along the waterfront. So many winter festivals and events. The concerts in winter tend to be indoor vs outdoor but there aren’t fewer of them.

@BellaB That sounds fun at least. Where are you? The USA or UK or other?

It’s just awful. SAD is a real thing. You could look into getting one of those lamps that is recommended for people who get quite depressed from the grey skies.

When I live in a place that has a lot of dreary days I try to take a sunny warm vacation in January or February for some relief.

I’ve also found that putting up the heat so I don’t suffer from the cold in my home is a help. Being cold outside is fine, but at home I really want to be comfortable.

To some extent I can’t avoid being more cooped up and doing less in the winter months. I’m not very much a winter sport person. I do still get out and do my Zumba classes, which is helpful.

I still plan going out with friends or visiting people. Go to a show.

Mostly, I just count down for the springtime.

Currently, I live in Florida and it truly changes your life when you live in a warm sunny place.

@LornaLove , I’m in Canada.

After…I make a soup from scratch

Where I live we pretty much have such tropical to rainforest weather all year. It gets incredibly hot and humid for 3 months towards the end of summer.

So. I love the brief cold.

If you enjoy sweltering heat, come stay in Charleston SC in August. Last year it was like 80°F on Christmas day…

We have a saying here. We have winter and August. That isn’t a fair characterization. But it is if you want to know if everyday will be sunny. It is safe to camp in July but there might be rain.

And our winters are just overcast and rain. It only snows a few days a year. I kinda like it. It is raining so sit inside with my cat and tea and Netflix. (I work from home)

I live the adage, “there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.”

I bicycle as long as the roads are dry and the temp is above freezing.

I had my favorite old hiking boots re-soled, and sometimes I walk a mile and a half to the train for the pleasure of using them. With a warm insulated jacket, ski gloves, wool scarf and hat, I feel like I’m armored and making a little adventure on my morning commute.

It’s just a bit of rain, man the fuck up, coming from just south of the border I should know.

I once lived ten years in a place where the sun didn’t shine one day for two years straight. The ground would freeze in early November and not thaw until mid-May. In mid-wiinter, the sun would come up at 11:30 am, ride low on the horizon, then set at 3pm. Outside temps between December and March were in the -30’s F more often than not. Summer meant June temps in the 50’s with a few sunshiny days, cold rain through July—every single July—followed by a sunny early August, but the leaves began to turn again before the end of the month.

I spent a lot of time in the University Library, then thanks to used bookstores in places like Folkstone, England, I created my own little cubby hole at home where I could explore the world without having to go outside. I began a coin collection, learned how to play chess. I visited friends and we had great big dinners together with twelve people at the table as the winter winds howled just outside the windows. I found a gym near my flat where I could prevent my body from going to hell before I could resume my outdoor pursuits in what was called “Summer.”

I tried cross-country skiing, but I found it boring as hell in a colorless landscape. I was invited on a Reindeer hunt, the annual culling of the herds, in remarkable sunshine at -50F and found out that, at those temperatures, a 30.06 sounds like an air gun and your piss freezes before it hits the ground.

I’d never experienced anything like it in my entire life. It was actually a very nice change from years spent in subtropical Florida. It was great to be able to dress in fine clothing with scarves, gloves and hats instead of just shorts and T-shirts and flipflops. I learned how to be patient, how to sit quietly. I went with my wife to museums and the opera and found out there was art and music other than Freak Bros. Comics and Led Zepplin. It was good for me.

Inside pursuits. Reading, stamp and coin collecting and related research, chess, backgammon and other board games, working out and playing team sports in indoor facilities. All that saved this Florida boy’s sanity.

i live in the snow belt formed by Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. I will readily admit the gray, cloudy sky and seemingly endless snow can get old.
There are some things that brighten the situation however.
The wood burning stove in the living room is a real mood lifter. I am get rid of trash, cleaning my property, and I get free heat.
I also leave electric lights on – a lot. It is not a waste. Unless the lights are on the outside of the house every bulb turned on inside is effectively helping to heat your home and reducing the output from your heating system. That also brightens my mood.
Cooking soup or stew on the stove is also a nice lift.

I catch up on my reading, surf the net and watch films. I would get a bit stir crazy being cooped up in my flat all the time so I make a point of going our regardless of the weather. I also keep an eye on the weather forecast and when a good day is in prospect, and there are some, I plan longer walks or cycle rides so I can enjoy the countryside.

It thought of another thing that give me joy! I have a monstrous, 14hp, walk-behind, snow blower parked in my garage. (Troy Bilt, Storm 3090 XP) Just knowing it’s there helps me look forward to snow!
I put on a snowsuit and take care of several of the neighbors’ driveways after I clear my own. It fills me with a feeling of accomplishment.

And I do enjoy the hot chocolate afterward.

I suffer from SAD and some years are better than others. I try to get outside as much as possible, keep my vit D up and basically just suffer through till spring. We had some unseasonably warm weather yesterday and I was able to work outside building a small firewood shed. Just being able to do that made me feel 1000% better. Today though, it’s gray, raining and I just want to curl up in a corner and die.

@LuckyGuy you’re the wood stove authority here. I’ll be looking for an insert in the near future. Any specific recomendations? I agree a fire elevates my mood.

I don’t know why but I like it. Where we live it is usually so sunny that it hurts my eyes. It’s blinding. So when it’s like this it’s such a relief ! Pllus, it reminds me of cool days. Our summers are unbearably hot and humid and I hate it.
I have a friend who is plagued with depression. For her, cloudy days make it a lot worse. More about her later.

I can empathize. I’m definitely more prone to feeling low and lethargic here in the winter and when it’s grey and cloudy like today, it’s hard for me to get myself going. I can get into some days just at home puttering about, reading and cooking but then I get cabin fever and have to get out. There are some local bars that host musicians so my friends and I will go out for a drink and a listen. I go to the movies – mainly matinees. And I do try to get to the gym and out walking 2 -3 times a week if it’s not icy.

I have a very strong recommendation. I love my Lopi Freedom insert. It is so efficient and clean burning. (And high tech) . It came in a couple of versions when I bought mine about 8+ years ago: Catalytic converter or reburner. I selected the reburner type. It runs so hot it will burn anything.
It is so nice to watch the flames through the glass window. I figure when it is burning it is like making oil since my oil heat does not have to run.
We can talk more offline about this.

Just what I was looking to hear. I’ll post another question in general.

watch some funny videos

@Espiritus_Corvus

“I once lived ten years in a place where the sun didn’t shine one day for two years straight.”

Where was that? Siberia? Barrow, AK? :-0

Never let winter stop you from getting out of the house and having fun.

Live in Tacoma, Washington State where the winter months are very often cloudy and drizzly. I call it pea-soup weather. It does snow and get icy at brief times with temps ranging from +15ºF to 45ºF (average about 35ºF).

How do I deal with it? I gear up to it with special gloves and layered clothing. And I’m able to go canoe paddling nearly every day (last week I paddled 89½ miles). I joke about it by saying that our cool climate is like having free air conditioning. And the cloud cover is great at helping to protect against the sun’s harmful rays.

I go for hikes or long walks when it is too dangerous to paddle (like with strong winds and icy roads).

Right in the middle of the season take a long weekend and go somewhere sunny.

@ucme was that really necessary?

@Brian1946 Sweden, 1982—1992. From summer 1986 to summer 1988, there was not one day that wasn’t overcast with thick cloud cover.

Consider this @LornaLove is a bell necessary on a bicycle?
I believe you may well find your answer within that particular conondrum, but if not, hey…don’t fret.

I know you lived in South Africa for many years, so I can imagine that the grey skies of Scotland, the cold and lack of sunshine would affect you. I’ve lived in Australia for more years than I lived in the UK now. I still pine for a cold Christmas and I relish periods of rain that make me think of home. However, it’s not permanent and in a few days the sun is back and it’s warm. I doubt I would really enjoy freezing my tits off in the UK in winter. I still remember being so cold I couldn’t get the key in the front door. So I do understand how you’re feeling.

I love @marinelife‘s suggestion to plan a weekend away to warmer climes in the middle of winter.

Before winter comes, plan some indoor hobbies that make you happy. Things that will keep your mind active and away from looking at the dreary skies.

Put happy music on. Join a dance group and take dance classes.

Put your coat and boots on and go for a walk anyway. Make a point of looking for the beauty in your surroundings.

Take up photography. Go out with your camera and photograph local beauty spots and finish up with some hot chocolate to defrost.

You can’t change the weather, you can change how you react to it. So proactively plan for winter by organising some positive, happy things to do until the sun comes back (to the extent that it does in Scotland).

@Earthbound_Misfit Thanks for your answer. You get it! I’ve been reading a lot about hygge. I even bought a few kindle books on it. Hygge is a Danish word and it’s hard to describe, but because of the long dark winters they practice what I’d call bringing light, love and warmth into your home.
Pretty candles are lit, music and simple but good food is part of hygge. Family, friends, and experiences also form part of it.
Their public laundromat, for e.g. also has a coffee shop inside with books and pretty candles. I wish more countries cottoned onto hygge!

Some people who suffer depression don’t mind dreary weather, I just find for myself it is really an uphill daily battle. I live for spring and like you mentioned there is not really a summer here, but at least the buds grow, pretty flowers appear and the world just looks better. I’ve moved from a constant summer to a constant winter!

Hygge literally means “Fun” —fun in all it’s manifestations.

@LornaLove Hygge is a great concept. I find myself entertaining friends at home more in the winter and planning when snowstorms are predicted with books, Netflix and cooking projects.