It’s always about this time of year that I start to yearn for long summer days. Here in Aberdeen we have about 7.5 hours of daylight mid January – and that doesn’t take account of the dark cloudy days.

If you were to offer me tickets a few days somewhere warm in the southern hemisphere, I’d take your arm off.

So, what do I do to counter the effects of SAD? Well I’ve got a light that I use for a couple of hours a day. I’m not sure it’s that effective, but it was reasonably cheap and it feels good when it’s on. More effective is getting out for a walk. Even 20 minutes makes a world of a difference.

One top of that, just knowing that the days are getting ever so slightly longer week by week gives me a little spring in my step.

Narrow lane in Fittie, Aberdeen, between stone cottages with orange bench and planters, overhead wires crossing blue sky, leading towards water on a summer day.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​