Lately I've found myself sprinkling essential oil of orange here and there in the house. It seems suited to winter because something about the scent is both summery and wintery all at once.
Oranges fit with Christmas and New Year's, but they also evoke refreshing memories of warm sunshine and the bounty of fruit trees in green places. There is a celebratory quality about the color and fragrance of the orange. It makes one happy.
Folk medicine has long prescribed the orange as an antidote to depression. The orange, believed to be native to the tropical regions of Asia, was used as a medicine in China and the Arab world during the Middle Ages. Many parts of the orange are used in herbalism, cosmetics, perfumery and cooking. The fruit itself along with the peel and the flower all have their uses. The fruit is full of vitamins C, A and B. So, if you do nothing else with it, simply eating an orange brings ample benefits.