Once I was selected by the Nielsen rating group to log my TV habits. When they got my logbook I’m sure they thought – we have some weird weather fetish person here. Most of my entries included the weather channel. When you have a nursery and landscaping business, weather is your friend and enemy, knowing what the weather is doing 24hours a day is very important. We have the weather channel on all day long at the nursery; before we had cable at the nursery my father-in-law would call us every few hours with a weather update. So when I saw the report about the snow in the Northeast, I could really relate to the people in the story. One man in Smithfield, Rhode Island was concerned about his pine trees bending under the weight of the snow – we have to worry about the weight of snow on our greenhouses. Kids were having a blast sledding on the snow – the guys at the nursery love to have snowball fights. But, a gentleman in Andover, Massachusetts made the comment that hit home with me; he said, “I’m tied of the snow – enough is enough – I’m ready for summer”. Winter, despite its glistening beauty when it snows, is usually a gloomy season in which everyone longs for warm sunny days

When I start to get the winter blues, I spend the whole day in the greenhouse working with the green plants and colorful flowers that we are growing for the spring season. Instead of exhaustion at the end of the day, I am energized and excited. This feeling of euphoria gave me an idea a couple of years ago. My mother absolutely hates winter and gets the winter blues easily. So, I started sending her flowers when I noticed the winter blues creeping up on her. Since I began this experiment, I’ve noticed my mother doesn’t seem to mind winter, quite as much. I would love to take credit for curing the winter blues with flowers, but using flowers to stimulate happiness isn’t my invention. Over the decades, many studies have proven that Flowers = Happiness. You can ask any flower delivery driver – when you deliver the flowers what is the expression on the face of the recipient? – and the driver will reply, a smile.

So, what does sending a flower bouquet have to do with the weather across the nation? The weather – along with a multitude of other things – is causing a winter blues epidemic. What the nation needs right now is a positive attitude and a feeling of happiness. Maybe if everyone across the nation sends flowers to someone else this winter, we can stop the epidemic from spreading and create a feeling of euphoria. Or if you feel like the man in Andover, call your local florist and give yourself a little happiness by having flowers delivered to your home or office.

Here’s my effort to send some happiness your way