Blo*Lancaatar Fanning, Saturday, January 20,1990
,S)
Spring-Like Day Cures Wintertime Blues
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Farming Staff
EPHR AT A (Lancaster Co.) On “I like warm weather better than
Tuesday and Wednesday, outside snow,” said eight-year-old Ray
temperatures climbed into the 60s. mond Martin as he guided his truck
Children discarded winter coats; through the sandpile in his
some grabbed a sweater and others backyard,
thought it was warm enough with- His four-year-old brother Ryan
out them. agreed.
Like many other children, two
brothers from Lititz, took advan-
Raymond Martin found the tree house he had helped his
dad build was ideal for playing in during the warm days of
winter.
Children In Barrow, Alaska, chat In the half-light of evening. Alaska’s long,
ters produce many people who suffer from seasonal depression, an ailment linked to
tage of the warm weather to play in
their sandbox and tree house.
Warm weather makes them
-hink of swimming, riding bike
md playing in their tree house.
But warm weather isn’t pre
licted to last. The brothers aren’t
jo o disappointed.
Raymond explained, “I like
snowball battles and ice skating.
When it gets dark and cold, I like to
lo inside and drink chocolate
nilk.”
The boys are the children of
Raymond and Debbie Martin.
Unlike Ryan and Raymond,
;ome children are not happy in the
winter.
According to an article by
''lational Geographic News Ser
/ice, one in five Americans suffer
vinter-time blues.
When winter comes, some
;hildren oversleep, gorge on cook
es, don’t want to play with friends
md can’t concentrate on school
vork.
But when the sun shines, these
:hildren change personalities,
fhey suddenly have lots of energy
md feel happy.
Doctors call this disorder SAD.
t’s medical terminology for sea
.onal affective disorder.
Studies show that few who live
n Florida or other southern states
ire affected by the weather. The
arther north people live, the more
likely they are to experience winter
depression.
Medical reseachers believe that
in the absence of sunlight, some
people develop abnormalities in
brain chemicals.
To help cure winter depressions,
researches made a light box that
costs $4OO. Fluorescent tubes emit
a full spectrum of light. Patients sit
in front of it for 30 minutes to sev
eral hours each day. After this
treatment, as many as eight out of
10 people who suffered from SAD
pulled out of their depression.
Doctors said no light treatment
should be tried without a physi
cian’s guidance. There is still a lot
to be learned on this disorder.
This week’s bright sunny
weather was just what many peo
ple needed to chase the winter
time blues away.
Playing in the sunshine is much
more fun than sitting under lights.
Ing on Tuesday.
Sand offers endless Ideas for creating farms, roads and
villages. Raymond Martin of Lltitz was glad for warm weath
er to play In the sand.
Readers Write
Dear Readers,
My name is Bobbie Butler (I am
a girl). I am 8 years old. I have
three sisters and me: Jennnifer, 15;
Melanie, 14; Dian, 9.1 have three
brothers, Richard, 11; Billy, 6;
Michael, 3; and my mom and dad.
We live on a farm. We have
eight horses. Katie and her colt;
J.R., Jill, Pearl, Lucy, Lucky, Whi
sker; seven cows, three heifers, 1
bull and two bull calves.
We also have four dogs, Ben,
Tiffany, Sadie, and Bambi. We
also have cats, kittens, chickens,
rabbits and ducks.
My hobbies are collecting teddy
bears.
I would like a pen pal from any
where. My address is Bruce Scud
dcrßd.,Fleischmanns, NY 12430.
Bobbie Butler
New York
Hello, Readers,
My name is Stevie. I like to help
my dad. My chores are feeding the
calves, the sheep, the horses and
the cows. And I also help milk the
cows. Sometimes in the morning,
my mom helps so 1 can sleep
longer.
My favorite collection is small
tractor equipment I also have a
key chain collection. I also like to
read books.
We have two dogs named Lassie
and Daisy. Daisy is a little white
dog. Mornings when I come out,
she comes to meet me and wants
me to pick her up. We can hold her
like a baby. She likes to have
wagon rides, too.
I have four sisters and two
brothers.
I am in seventh grade at Country
Side School along S. Groffdale Rd.
On December 27, 28, we were
skating at recess. I like reading let
ters in Kid’s Komer.
Slevi King, age 12
Gordonville
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