Now that the holiday season is nearly over (for the majority of you, at least), I thought I’d share with you some chillified versions of the Snowy Cascade wallpaper. (You know, something a bit less flashy and extravagant.) And, more importantly, I’m also going to share with you some important facts you need to know about surviving winter without getting sick.

So today we’re going to talk about keeping art (and your health!) from falling through the cracks, how to prevent yourself from getting sick in the winter, and a lesson in being aware of your surroundings.

I’ve gotta be completely honest with you though: I’ve been holding some stuff back. I purposely waited until after the holidays to release these three chillaxed flavors of Snowy Cascade that I’m releasing today. Because what’s the point if I release all 11 wallpapers at once? It’s too much at once! And inevitably some would fall through the cracks and fail to be appreciated. These 3 new additions to the Snowy Cascade Clear wallpaper set are:

• Snowy Cascade Clear – Morning
• Snowy Cascade Clear – Dark
• Snowy Cascade Clear – Night

Based on some profoundly unscientific polls that I’ve done this month, I expect that these three flavors will be even more popular than the previous 5 flavors because people seemed to prefer the “Clear” look.

Avoid Falling through the Cracks (In Art & Health!)

As I mentioned above, I held these back because if I released too much content at once, some would fall through the cracks. Good art can fall through the cracks not unlike how a harmful virus can get through the armor of one’s own immune system. When travelling it’s extremely important to pay attention to how your immune system is doing, because you’re certainly not going to have any fun if you’re bedridden the whole time.

And this time of year, people getting sick from viruses is more common because people often indulge in lots of sugary foods during the holidays, which produces a spike in blood sugar. What they don’t know is, the resulting blood sugar low leaves you with a highly weakened immune system, which is precisely when viruses take hold. Another reason we have weakened immune systems in the winter is the fact that sunlight is much less direct in the wintertime (due to the tilt of the Earth) which means it takes much more exposure to sunlight for your skin to create enough vitamin D for the day. (Not to mention that you probably don’t want to be outside getting some sun anyway since it’s so cold!)

This combination of increased sugar and decreased Vitamin D is the main cause of the “flu season” that is so common during these winter months.

I should know since over the past few days I narrowly avoided catching a virus myself. I could even feel my body fighting it, and when I was hit with a wave of sleepiness, I listened to my body and took a nap. (And naps are unusual for me.)

I’ve only managed to successfully fight this virus off through careful nutritional planning and a high level of awareness of my own body. For instance, I’ve been making sure I get lots of a vitamin C (I ate 4 oranges yesterday), as well as Vitamin D. Being a vegan most days of the week (and a vegetarian on the other days), most of my vitamin D comes from fortified sources. (Right now my favorite way to get Vitamin D is from Almond Milk since, for a variety of reasons, cows milk actually decreases immune function.)

By carefully avoiding refined sugars, making sure my Vitamin C & D levels were high, and drinking plenty of water, I was able to fortify my immune system to deal with the current buggy environment.

A Funny Story about Mistaken Identity & Vitamin D

Speaking of Vitamin D, when I was a kid I was walking through a grocery store, wandering away from my family and daydreaming, as usual. (Are you surprised?) After a few minutes, I stumbled across a strange kind of milk. The cap was a different color than I’d seen before, and I turned to my Dad who was nearby to ask him what kind of milk it was.

“What kind of milk is this? It seems different”, I asked.

Except that the man wasn’t my Dad at all. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought it was him, but that reality soon shattered. This man, who was about the height of my father, turned around and in a very deep voice said, “VITAMIN D.” (Yes that warrants all capital letters. If you’d heard him, you’d put capital letters too.)

Taken aback, I gasped and looked up at him. I tried not to look surprised and just went with it. “Ah! Thanks…”

On that day, I learned a valuable lesson about being very aware of your surroundings. And this applies equally to travel and health. Think about it.

Fits the Times Perfectly

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the 3 new wallpapers and have amazing New Year celebration. Remember to be aware of your bodies and eat sugary foods in moderation!

As a sample, I’ve put a preview of the muted Snowy Cascade Clear “Dark” version. And I think it fits this time of year perfectly, don’t you?

Which flavor do you like best?

Get the new wallpaper in Widescreen (up to 2560×1600) →

All content released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license. These wallpapers will look great up to resolutions of 2560×1600 (about a 30 inch screen). That’s 4,096,000 pixels of goodness to make your desktop look as incredible as possible. With so much free content on the site, why not tell a friend?