Another Reel Around the Sun

Welcome to the Winter Solstice. This is the strongest time of the year for the Holly King. So why do I feel so depressed? Not having any electricity at home last night* I went to SoulFood Books and read a bit while drinking some tea. When I noticed how depressed I felt I spent some time exploring those feelings and looking for the cause. I think I have an idea on a lot of the reasons, some of which I'm going to mention in the coming days and others I'm not.

The climate has probably more than a bit to do with my depression. The rain doesn't bother me so much but I do miss cold temperatures. I really enjoy the snow and ice and we don't get much of that around here. I can alleviate that by making day trips to colder climes such as Leavenworth.

Also the difference in daylight plays a part. Last night I did some calculations and here's the difference in daylight between Summer and Winter:

	Winter	Summer	Difference
Seattle, WA	8h 25m 14s	15h 59m 31s	7h 34m 17s
Topeka, KS	9h 25m 29s	14h 54m 45s	5h 29m 16s
Difference	1h 0m 15s	1h 4m 46s

8 & 1/2 hours of daylight in the winter compared to almost 16 hours in the summer. Also there is a lot more cloud coverage here in the winter time which lowers the effective amount of sunlight. I'm not sure how to fix that as I don't like a lot of light. I should experiment with some indirect full spectrum lighting. That might help my mood without the negative effects of light shining directly in my eyes.

I included Topeka in my table above because I was curious about the difference between my childhood and here. I didn't live in Topeka but it was on the chart and is close enough to Kansas City for a comparison. We get an hour more of light during the summer and an hour less of light during the winter.

This solstice is the beginning of a few new cycles for me. In the past year I turned 40, moved to a new city, started a new job, made some new friends. This time around the wheel I want to make some goals for the next decade, strengthen those friendships, make some more friends.

I think dreamingcrow has made a good vow and I'll make it as well to use as my guide. There is also a quote from Buckminster Fuller I've been using as my email signature that is a good guide for living. It is:

If success or failure of this planet and of human beings depended on how I am and what I do... How would I be? What would I do?

Welcome to the new cycle and you all have my heartfelt hopes for a better year for us all.

* The power returned around midnight last night. Thanks to everyone for their concern and especially to loree for her offer of a warm bed and hot showers.

With A Little Help From My Friends

I'm felling a lot better. Just saying what was bothering me and being reminded that people like me helps a lot. Also for lunch I went out to the little deli in the next building over. Since it was sunny and I had some extra time on the way back I took a different route and found out that we have some trails that run between the buildings and the slough in our office complex.

I took one of them back to work but it's pretty squelchy behind the buildings right now. I'm going to throw my hiking boots in the trunk and go exploring the trails a bit at lunch. I should remember the camera because we have quite a bit of wildlife around here.