Lauree Gant, age 12, of Coronado., CA  for the question:

What are the doldrums?

We say we are in the doldrums when we are having a sad, sorrowful mood. This dull mood gets its name from a region on the earth’s surface where conditions are often dull and listless, It was named the doldrums, meaning dullness, by the men of old sailing ships. These mariners, who depended upon the breezes, were often becalmed for weeks in the region of the doldrums. They had reason to fear it,

The doldrums is a belt of weather near the equator and of various width. It is the region of calm, uprising air between the northeast and the southeast trade winds. Throughout the seasons, it moves north and south of the equator with the sun. Sailors ran into the doldrums especially in the North Atlantic Ocean where a long calm is often broken by a fierce and sudden storm.