September Shirt

It is September.
I made this shirt in honor of my love for tomatoes; I love to grow all vegetables but tomatoes are my favorite. Usually at this time of year I am harvesting plenty. When I lived in the Midwest, one year I harvested over 300 heirloom tomatoes – green, yellow, orange, red and purple. I miss growing tomatoes.

The Tarot Card for the month of September – Queen of Swords.
This card usually means trying to hold onto and deal with sorrowful thoughts or events – an apt card, as I usually develop depression in September.
I have a variety of seasonal affective disorder. Seasonal Affective disorder or (“SAD”) is a sort of depression that usually hits in the winter months – people get sluggish, tired, down, eat/sleep more and feel badly for the lack of light. However SAD can be any time; mine hits about now. Some years it is mild, some years it is severe – what keeps me going is the experience it lifts by late October.
Last year I didn’t seem to get much SAD, maybe because I am in Arizona and there are no ‘cues’ of the usual fall colours, smells, and U of Michigan football games a mile away (I used to live down the street from the Stadium in Ann Arbor). I am curious to see if I have ‘licked’ this by moving to Arizona. Treating SAD was my bread and butter in Michigan – I don’t see any here in the Arizona winter. Does anyone out there get SAD?
The irony - I love the autumn! -- the colours, the smells, trips to cider mills, the anticipation of Hallowe’en. This year I want to go with Someone to see fall colours. I even have certain CDs and music associated with the fall; they are played at this time of year like Christmas records are played in December.

I envy Steve at Devious Steve O , Lemuel at The Greedy Maelstrom, and Hanuman at Chai and Sympathy . They have New England autumns to see. How lovely for them!