Your mind begins to wander south towards the light. Hey! JetBlue has begun flying out of Stewart Airport!! Gee, it’s been years since we went to see Aunt Fran in Phoenix. Well, fly off if you must, snow birds. As for the rest of us, we’ll just sit here in the dark. Now, now… that is hardly necessary. We don’t have to sit in the dark. We, too, can bask in the sun’s warmth. We‘ll just head down to the Health and Nutrition Center in New Paltz (in the Stop&Shop plaza) or Mother Earth Storehouse (locations in Poughkeepsie, Kingston, and Hyde Park) and pick up some Chromalux or Blues Buster bulbs. The 60-, 75-, and 100-watt bulbs fit into your standard lighting fixture but are specially coated to block the yellow incandescent rays to render that sunny feeling. The 60- and 100-watt bulbs sell for around $8 and the 75-watt flood is $15. So while we won’t be getting a tan for our $15, we will be getting some of those feel-good happy rays we need. Now, I like to think that beauty can be as therapeutic as science. And sometimes when the lights go out, as we know they do from time to time here in the valley, science can be a mighty beautiful thing. Well, there is some beautiful science wrapped up in the nifty little package of the Vessel Candela Cloud rechargeable lights. These simple and clean lights provide a beautiful ambient glow and, since they are not a fire hazard if left unattended, you can sit back and enjoy the power failure in style. Available in sets of two or four, they automatically illuminate when the power goes off. Vessel lights run for about eight hours, and if the battery wears out that, too, is replaceable. Blue Cashew Kitchen Pharmacy (1209 Rt. 213, High Falls; (845) 687-0294) sells the Candela 4 Cloud ($90) and Candela 2 Cloud ($52), as well as the handy Guardian ($40) the perfect nightlight. Also available for $2.50 each are colored sleeves with tropical names like Sky, Surf, Mango, Kiwi and Poppy. So who needs to head south for the winter? Charge up your Candelas and bask in their warmth. Alysa Sullivan learned to be a discerning shopper at an early age, when her taste for quality was outstripped by her measly 25-cent weekly allowance. She is very happy to now be applying her shopping acumen in the hills of the Hudson Valley.