Cabin Fever

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Our car has been parked in the garage for a week — a week of snow and ice in an area that seldom sees that sort of thing. Last Friday, my husband’s bus commute to downtown Seattle took a total of 5 hours (for 8 hours of work), rather than the more usual 1-½ hours total. So we’ve stayed home in the warmth since then, leaving the house only for walks around our neighborhood. We had planned ahead for bad weather…so have had enough food, although we ran out of chips for nachos, darn it, and we’ve watched all the episodes on our current Netflix obsessions. And Christmas was quiet without family members able to join us … their presents still sit under the tree unopened, waiting for the roads to clear enough for travel. Our daughter only lives 4 miles away, but is also snowbound at her place. And our Portland family has had even worse winter conditions than we’ve had, so nobody is going anywhere at the moment and Christmas is on hold until the melt!

So here are a few things that are helping us fend off Cabin Fever…

Playing with our Grandboy on Skype…

Watching the extended version of The Lord of the Rings, again for the second time this year.

Going for walks has kept us from going stir crazy, but was difficult until we opened the Christmas presents B had the foresight to order for us:
Have you heard of Stabilicers? And Trekking Poles?
And, of course, we’ve been reading, reading, reading! I’ve finished 3 books this week, and will post reviews before too long. That’s the nice part of being snowbound when there’s no end to the pile of books to draw from!

So we are surviving this extended winter storm. It’s funny how something you read a long time ago can come back to you suddenly with crystal clarity. Watching out the window this morning, I had a sudden “book memory” — descriptions from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s, The Long Winter, came flooding back to me. She described so well this feeling of Cabin Fever that keeps trying to creep in and take over. But we’re fighting it off!

10 thoughts on “Cabin Fever”

  1. Chris

    I hope you get to get out soon Robin! Though it sounds like you’ve had some fantastic things to pass the time! I really want to watch LOTR now :p

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  2. Cath

    Wow, Robin. I had no idea you had snow like that in Seattle at the moment. Fascinating to read about it. It’s a good job you have plenty to keep you occupied. Readers never go completely nuts when confined, do they?

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  3. Tara

    I hope you’re able to get out and about soon. Here in MN, thanks to snowplows and salt, people just try to get on with things, but I’m much happier when I don’t have to leave my house in bad weather.

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  4. Kailana

    I am used to snow and we haven’t had much lately! What we have had were storms, but our Christmas was pretty much green. I hate shoveling snow, but I hate when the snow melts and everything is brown and dead. I pretty much like the snow to stick around with a few snowfalls to keep everything white…

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  6. Robin

    Thanks, Chris. We were finally able to get out this morning, although we didn’t go very far. The main roads are good. The side roads are terrible. We’ll stay in this afternoon and finish the last of LOTR!

    It’s nice to hear from you, Cath. This is so unusual for the Seattle area! We’re relieved that it’s finally warming up and starting to melt. And, yes, reading has kept us from feeling too confined!

    Thanks, Tara. There are a lot of disgruntled people in the area right now, complaining that we don’t have the kind of plans necessary to cope adequately with these conditions. I grew up in Salt Lake City, where there is always lots of snow and plenty of salt, so this is really different from here.

    Hi, Kailana. I used to feel the same way about the brown and the dead showing after a melt. Almost worse is dirty snow and the end of a long winter! But around here, when the snow melts, it’s incredibly green! So I’m cheering on the melt!

    Thanks, Nymeth! We are so happy to announce that it’s warmed up so that melting is finally happening! Although, we’re home this afternoon and will finish watching The Return of the King!

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  8. Robin

    Thanks, J.Danger. He’s a sweetheart. Skype is terrific for grandparents that don’t live really close to their special ones! We don’t do it very often, but we love to see the Grandboy in action and see how he changes from week to week!

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