Winter Propaganda, c/o The Weather Channel

Because there is a major storm heading into Boston tonight, I was checking out The Weather Channel this morning to get the 411 and guesstimate my chances of having a snow day tomorrow (it's looking good). As I briefly browsed TWC's homepage, I found that they're promoting a new feature called, "Why I Love Winter."
Also, if you've checked your Local on the 8's in the last few days, you've probably seen the promo on TV.

TWC Road Crew personality Jeff Mielcarz hosts this piece, albeit reluctantly. According to his Do you love Winter? blog post, Jeff is not a fan of the winter months:

"I feel like you and I have a pretty good relationship and I don't want to ruin that by lying to your face ... so I'll be straight up with you ... winter ... clearly not my favorite season."

Alright, Jeff, whatever you say. After Jeff gets through relating his elementary school snow day experiences (with enough dot-dot-dotting to drive a person mad), he goes on to tell us how other TWC personalities feel about winter. Most of them seemed to have missed the "Why I LOVE Winter" memo because many are luke warm at best about the season. Heather Tesch even goes so far to say, "Honestly, winter is not my favorite month." If winter was a month, that would be harsh.

But seriously... WHAT THE HELL IS THIS CRAP?! Winter sucks and everyone knows it. Why is The Weather Channel forcing this weak propaganda on us?

Also-- why am I getting so worked up about this? I'm not sure. Clearly this is just a very poorly perceived and executed PR stunt by a bunch of weather geeks trying to get people jazzed about Winter and increase their ratings.

But mostly, I think this campaign isn't 100% stupid and it could have been a great opportunity to address some public health issues, namely the "winter blues" or Seasonal Affective Disorder, instead of a plea for people to spend loads of money they don't have traveling to Florida and/or snow sporting.

Seasonal Affective Disorder is the extreme version of the cabin fever, fatigue and irritability that many people experience during January and February. If symptoms are so severe that you can't function, please seek professional advice. Otherwise, there are lots of articles and advice columns for how to deal with the blues, but here are some general tips:

• Exercise 4-6 times a week for 30-45 minutes.
• Take vitamin C supplements to keep your immune system healthy.
• Decorate your living space with bright colors like red, orange and yellow.
• Eat complex carbohydrates like rice and pasta to feed your brain, and simple carbs like fruits and juices for a sweet meal-ender. Strategic eating!
  
• Get some sun exposure soon after you rise in the morning. Opening your shades can be enough!

Personally, I've been cooking, baking and trying to get some sewing projects going to keep me busy. I find that too much idle time can be a hazard to my mental health, i.e. unemployment. A couple weeks ago, I made Beef Barley Soup, which was DELICIOUS and pretty easy. The leftovers were even better the next day. And the next.

So, WEATHER CHANNEL listen up: Stick to what you know, i.e. THE WEATHER. Don't tell me I have to love Winter, because I don't! You're not my mom!

Resources:
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), Mayo Clinic
Gannett Advice on Beating the Winter Blues, Cornell University
Natural Ways to Beat the Winter Blues, Health.com
Go Away Winter Blues!, DoItYourself.com