The Winter Doldrums

I've never much liked the cold weather. I grew up here, in New York City, and my childhood winters were full of brutally cold weather and of course snow. Though global warming has changed the climate here slightly, winters in New York are still intense. What's worse about them is that these days is that the cold comes on suddenly, like someone punching you in the face.

It's warm here from the summer until November, then all of a sudden it's 33 degrees and you don't want to leave your house.

There isn't much to do outside without freezing.

When Wil, Ari and I went camping this past weekend in Western New Jersey, we met a woman who told us that by March, she had to retreat to Jekyll island in Georgia to escape the "Winter Doldrums." I'd never heard the term before so I looked it up. Apparently it means feeling depressed because of the cold weather, lacking energy, sleeping a lot, not eating or eating too much. All of this is caused by the lack of sunlight and cold weather.

There are some fun indoor things to do once you manage to get outside, like going to the library, or hitting up some fun museums. But it's the "getting outside" that's the issue. The cold can be intimidating. Ari hates it too. It's hard to convince him to get dressed and go outside because he is aware of how cold it is and doesn't want to deal with the icy winds. I asked him today:
"Do you want to go for a walk? Do you want to go to the library?"
He shook his head.
"Do you want to go outside?"
He shook his head even more vigorously than before.

Am I alone here? Is anyone else having a hard time leaving the house? How do you combat the winter doldrums?