I'm Maggie Smith, and this is The Slowdown.

Despite February being my birth month, it is easily my least favorite month of the year.

The winter weather in the Midwest is brutal.

By mid-January, the twinkling lights and holiday cheer that make December bearable are gone. By February,

I'm over it. The dirty icebergs on the side of the road shoved over by snowplows, the gray sky,

the depressing lack of natural light. I'm over all of it.

There's a reason so many Midwesterners struggle in the fall and winter months.

Seasonal effective disorder, known as sad, which might be too on the nose as an acronym,

is a type of depression related to seasonal changes.

With sad, you might feel more tired, more irritable,

and less motivated than usual.

You might notice yourself isolating, sleeping in more. Whenever we go a few days without much

sunlight in Ohio, I get out my sad light, turn it on, and sit in front of its bright white glow

for about a half hour. Maybe it should be called a happy light instead. Light therapy isn't a cure

for the winter blues, but it does help. Maybe I should close my eyes and listen to the sound of

ocean waves next time, pretend I'm at the beach. By February, what I really want for my

birthday is spring. Give me sunshine and daffodils and leaves finally sprouting on the trees.

Give me blue skies and birdsong. Spring fever in the Midwest is real because we've

been waiting so long for the thaw. When it finally happens, you'll see college students wearing

t-shirts and shorts, and people dining on restaurant patios again, even though the

temperature might only be in the 50s and 60s.

55 feels downright balmy after weeks or even months of single-digit temperatures.

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