To make winter tolerable, I keep our Christmas lights up outside.  But I make sure the lights are blue and white, in a more winter theme than any holiday colors.  Somhow, it makes the dark evenings more tolerable, and the dark mornings not quite so imposing.  I’m a firm believer in creating an atmosphere that supports a good outlook, so I’m known for lights, and smells that enhance being in the moment.  The one thing I have no control over, however, is a secret place in my laundry room where mice go to hide from our cats, and then somehow die and poison the air with the stench of decay in what is usually the freshest room (besides the kitchen) in my house.  I used an entire can of febreeze in there and literally got light headed this morning from holding my breath while putting in a load of dirty laundry that had stacked up almost to the window.  So this morning while it was still dark, and not too cold, I went outside to enjoy my blue lights and the winter birds just waking up.  A crazy thing to do in winter, to sit on the porch with my coffee, jacket, pajamas and slippers, but it smelled so much better out there.