Who besides me is going to miss seasonal lights in the garden? And do we really have to take them down, or can we justify them somehow all year?
I buy into the wisdom of Russian playwright Anton Chekhov’s observation that “People don’t notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy.” So, I deliberately add extra cheery stuff to my home and garden, especially this cold, dark time of year.
Like most temperate-climate people, I feel sapped and lethargic this month; even without suffering the more debilitating Seasonal Affective Disorder I suffer the winter blues, forcing myself to not withdraw, curl up, and hibernate. It’s natural, of course, what with fewer hours of sunlight throwing off our levels of mood-enhancing serotonin and body-regulating melatonin.
So, we have learned to invent ways to keep our minds active, spirits up, including exposing ourselves to more light in the morning, getting as much outdoor time as possible, exercising, eating well, socializing.
Even a moderate amount of time watching the TV can stimulate our pineal gland, warding away the long, otherwise dreary evening hours. Depending on your choice of shows, of course, lest we drag ourselves down watching emotionally- and mentally depressing sad or angry fare.
By the way, I have a theory about why we are so easily mesmerized by the television and computer screen. For thousands of years humans have stared into fires, entranced by the flickering flames we associate with warmth, comfort, and safety. But in just the past century or so, as we replaced fires with other sources of heat, we also started staring at TV, whose rapidly moving images have the same captivating, primordial effect as dancing flames. Just a thought.
Anyway, this time of year I most appreciate color. It’s so important to me that when I enlarged my cabin’s reading room, which doubles as a plant conservatory in the winter, I had a glass artist make a special plate for its octagonal window. Though more subtle than the stained-glass window I have in another room, it’s a more artsy variation on having glass bottles and color-throwing pieces of quartz, amethyst, or emerald in the kitchen window.
Even on dull, overcast days the window’s wavy texture, tinted with streaks of green, diffuses the natural color coming in giving the sitting area a natural glow, creating a palpably calm mood; on sunny days it is imbued with interesting hues from the blue sky and teal fence, sometimes moving with tree branch shadows or a flash or color from a passing redbird.
To add even more color, and bring the garden indoors, I often root bits of herbs or flowers in a green glass vase in the art window.
But there’s an even easier way to get this effect. Though I understand some folks don’t and will never get this (there is no accounting for taste), this time of year more than any other I adore having carefully placed bottle trees and other garden glass in my landscape; on even the dreariest days, especially when coated with ice, they bring color and cheer.
But back to my original premise. Year in and year out, between dusk and midnight, electric timers trigger strands of fairy lights on my gates, along walks, and around my little cabin’s porch. Rather than an eye-poking kaleidoscope of multiple colors, I go with all green which believe it or not has a smile-inducing effect.
I know this is not for everyone, but having dashes of artificial color to the garden brings me cheer. It improves my healthful well-being all year, but right now it is most surely appreciated.
