The Shortest Day, And Others, Are Behind Us
Posted by Charles Sun, 25 Dec 2005 21:26:00 GMT
Passion’s Lounge is nearly completed, and we cited this occasion to throw a party at the shop, the first Passion Loungewarming. The real reasons however, other than obvious subliminal marketing intentions, were to mark my 40th and Berry’s 57th birthdays, as well as celebrate the Winter Solstice. December 21 was the shortest day of the year, in other words, the day when we have the least daylight. On the Solstice the earth’s axial tilt leans Belmont as far away from the rising and setting sun as it will be this year, and we now begin our tilt back toward the sun and warmer weather. The ground is still cool, as is almost everything else, and the coldest days of Winter are still ahead of us, but in a fine Pagan tradition, I will celebrate a little every morning knowing the Summer is coming.
Christmas Eve was marked the hardest day for me to get out of bed. While the 21st was the shortest day, the sun continues to rise later in the morning for a few days, and our extra daylight appears only at the end of each day until Christmas or so. The skies were still dark at 7:00am, and that set a slow, depressed tone for me for the whole morning. Later in the day, the skylight over my workbench literally had a brightening effect on my day, pushing my SAD to the back of my mind. Out of sheer serendipity, during construction my bench ended up under one of Passion’s two skylights, and we were able to wire a few of the overhead lights, nicknamed the SAD Lights, in a way that makes it easy to leave them off until the skylight no longer provides the benefit of adequate work light. In November, this occurred about 3:45 in the afternoon, and through December it was a little earlier each day to a point. Christmas Eve marked the first day I was able to get through the day without turning on the SAD Lights, due only in part to the fact that I was leaving Passion earlier than has been my habit of late. I also was able to drive half of the way home, around 5:00pm, before I felt compelled to turn on my headlights.
November and December were months filled with anxiety for this reluctant entrepreneur. We were able to complete the majority of the construction before the Loungewarming, and most of the money I will need to spend on building out the shop has been spent. I have been able round up a great line of suppliers for the shop, traffic has been good in the service department, and I still have a few dollars left in the bank. I should now be able to rest a little easier at night knowing that while the coldest days are still ahead, at least the darkest are behind me. I’ll raise my coffee cup toward the rising sun tomorrow morning, and than head off to work with a smile.
