SADness?

One of the most common questions I get about living in Alaska is, "Isn't it dark there all the time during the winter? How can you stand that?" After answering that question over and over again while we were home for Christmas, I began to think a little bit more about it. I don't consider myself to be a "back to the earth" kind of person, though I would like to be a little bit more. There is very little about my life that changes with the seasons. I get up and go to work five days a week, whether it's light or dark or cold or warm. True, in the winter it's a bit more of a process, but my life doesn't change drastically because of it. Often the people that ask this question are like me. We don't forage for our food. We stay indoors the majority of the time. We drive most places. We use artificial light whenever it's dark out. So why does it matter so much to people that it's darker in Alaska in the wintertime?

I've been learning more about Seasonal Affective Disorder since I've been here. It's more prevalent here and I've have some acquaintances at work who are being treated for it. I realize that it's a serious condition causing depression, but I like thinking about the connection between our bodies and light from the sun. I like that our bodies still respond to the world around us even when we've become so industrialized. I think most of us feel a touch of SADness during the winter. Here's a list of symptoms, taken from the Seasonal Affective Disorder Association's website:

Sleep problems:	Usually desire to oversleep and difficulty staying awake but, in some cases, disturbed sleep and early morning wakening
Lethargy:	Feeling of fatigue and inability to carry out normal routine
Overeating:	Craving for carbohydrates and sweet foods, usually resulting in weight gain
Depression:	Feelings of misery, guilt and loss of self-esteem, sometimes hopelessness and despair, sometimes apathy and loss of feelings
Social problems:	Irritability and desire to avoid social contact
Anxiety:	Tension and inability to tolerate stress
Loss of libido	Decreased interest in sex and physical contact
Mood changes	In some sufferers, extremes of mood and short periods of hypomania (overactivity) in spring and autumn.

Most sufferers show signs of a weakened immune system during the Winter, and are more vulnerable to infections and other illnesses.

I don't know about other Alaskans, but I've noticed a few of these in particular this winter. I have been sleeping a lot. I get tired as early as 9 pm. I have been wanting to eat a lot of starchy and sweet food. I don't like to go out after I get home from work. I don't know if this has to do with wanting to avoid social contact or just that I want to stay warm and not deal with starting the car, brushing it off, and driving somewhere on slippery roads. Maybe I have a mild case, or what most of us call "the winter blues." I'm not worried. I hear on the radio every day how many more minutes of sunlight we're getting. Today the sun rises at 10:02 am and sets at 4:14 pm, giving us 6 hours and 11 minutes of daylight, a gain of 3 minutes and 43 seconds over yesterday! Getting outdoors during the brief daylight on the weekends helps too. Last weekend we went skiing on Saturday and Sunday. Winter is beautiful with all the snow and mountains up here.

Here's a recipe to indulge in when you're craving carbohydrates. Be warned, there's no protein and it's probably high in calories. I improvised and came up with this a few days ago when I made pasta, then looked in my cupboards for a jar of pasta sauce that I thought I had. There was no sauce. What to do, then, with half a pound of linguine? I had already made this chicken recipe and was envisioning having it with pasta and red sauce. Instead, I started thinking about something my husband used to order at an Italian restaurant in Rochester. It was pasta with garlic and oil, or "aglio e olio." Here it is, in all its greasy, carby goodness:

Cook 1/2 lb of pasta (something long and skinny--linguine, angel hair, etc) in plenty of boiling water until al dente. Drain.

In a large saute pan, pour 1/4 cup olive oil and heat until warm. Add 4-6 cloves of garlic, depending on how much you like garlic. I put the garlic through my garlic press, but you can just as easily chop it. Saute the garlic until golden. Add the pasta and mix well, tossing over medium heat. Add red pepper flakes to your liking (about two teaspoons? I didn't measure) and continue to mix. Serve with salt and pepper, and parmesan cheese if you want. We didn't, since the chicken we were eating was basically coated in parmesan. Serves 2-3, depending on how much you are craving carbohydrates.