Tips to relieve cabin fever

Just as I was sitting in front of my computer, wracking my brains for something to write about, the walls began to close in. The TV sounded way too loud. The snow outside became a deep, fluffy sea of white threatening to engulf me. I didn’t dare look in the mirror because I was sure a twitch was beginning to show under my left eye. Even my cats looked at me real funny.

That is when it hit me — I have cabin fever.

About here, my rational side took over. OK, I got it, now what should be done to combat it? Well, it would make a good story for you to write about. Did I mention anything about hearing voices? Well, there I was sitting there having a full-blown debate in my head. Guess what? I was losing.

I shook my head and yelled at the voices, “Shut up!”

Silence. My cats were kind of freaked out by now. The human was clearly bonkers. If they had fingers instead of paws, my loving balls of fur would be on the phone dialing up those wonderful people in the white coats to come pick me up to be fitted for a custom-made jacket with wrap-around sleeves and a year in a room with padded walls.

So, here are a few tips and tricks for surviving this yearly winter fun-fest:

• Get outside. Take a walk, snowshoe, ski. Bring along a camera, take pictures of your time outside. If you have a snowmachine or ATV, get out on the trails and see Alaska at its snowy best.

• For those snowbound, housebound or in general stuffed indoors, take up a good book or start an art project. The medium and subject don’t matter. Just try to create something that means something to you. As a part-time artist, I find this a good one.

• Take up cooking. I’m lousy at this, but sometimes I love to whip something up, even if it is macaroni and cheese. I keep a fire extinguisher and the fire department on speed dial just in case.

• Try your hand at music. A guitar is an easy way to go. I play four chords — badly — but I do find it soothing when it gels. Music can make time pass so fast.

• Find something to research. Learn a new subject or skill. Maybe take some classes on a given subject like history, nature or something deep like the reproductive cycles of the aardvark.

• Pop some popcorn and watch a classic movie with friends and family. I love science fiction flicks.

• Write a column about this or any other subject and send it in to your local newspaper.

• Check out the Internet. Look into NASA and what’s happening on Mars. Have your mind blown with pictures from the Hubble space telescope. I admit to being an Internet junkie.

• Moose tipping? Yikes, scratch that one.

These are just a few ideas to defeat the winter blues. I’m sure there are better ideas out there to beat the blahs. Take time to find them. Of course, the alternatives are getting drunk and stupid, getting arrested and ending up in tiny cell with a 6-foot-6, 300-pound guy named Bubba who has absolutely no sense of humor. This last option also may end up on a cable TV channel or in the Frontiersman’s Police Beat.

In my case, the alternative is a fun and fancy rubber room, courtesy of my loving feline housemates, in the local loony bin. Oh great. The phone is missing along with the cats. I know they are up to something. Jeepers! I wonder how I will look with red racing stripes?

Wasilla resident Daniel D. Grota retired from the U.S. Army after more than 21 years of service.