It's just that month

Oh, February. At least we are over Hump Day of the hardest month of the year, also known as Valentine's Day [though those two facts are relatively unrelated], and this year, also known as Lunar New Year. Many days to celebrate!

Ack, but February. This time of year always gets to me despite the best of intentions. I know it's coming. I stock up on chocolate [probably a bad idea, given my indecent lack of self control]. I hunt up soup recipes, seasonal recipes. I snuggle into my handknits, flout Weather.com and pull out my skirts and an extra pair of socks. I've picked up [semi] regular exercise. I've even started making bread every weekend.

And yet it still creeps up on me. It's a slight melancholy, a slight despair. A slight unendingness, sameness, that drives me bonkers and makes me wish I was anywhere but here, even though I was anywhere but here just four weeks ago. It's feeling both trapped and that the soothing routines are somehow not quite enough, if that makes sense. I know that sometimes winter is just gotten through one day at a time, but when you're stuck in that muddy middle ground it can be hard to prop up those flagging spirits.



So. How do you get through winter?