The sun is out...

this morning and again its a welcome relief.

When I was a child there was a charm to all of this, the change of seasons, the adventure of early night and the aura of autumn moving into fall. As I get older that charm has passed and now this time of year is often heavy on me, weighing me down, and making me listless and sleepy.

There is much to love if you live in the upper midwest of the United States. People from the coasts scoff at all of this as "flyover country" but if you have a dose or two of the bumper to bumper chase for the money, living around here is like fresh air. I can't imagine there would be enough money to get me to move to New York City or LA.

But winter can be hard and confining and as I get older I realize this and why people live in Florida and Arizona from December through March. And the first few weeks of daylight savings time are the worst of all. The sight of a precious glimmer of light in the morning is paid for by a drive home from work in the dark before supper. Summer's loss is acutely felt. Life and sanity requires that you get out of the house and into the world but sometimes you must force yourself.

The one blessing, perhaps, is that over the years you realize its going to happen and so there's time to prepare. Time to get the sun on your face when it comes. Time to find the people who can help you through until January. Time to plan on how you're going to make it through.

This morning, though, the sun is out and so the blinds are pulled and the windows opened so the precious light can come in. I'll catch as much of it as I can and so will the cats and together we'll store it up for the night ahead.