The Dark Cozy Days of Winter

This morning when I finished my morning routine I looked out the window and it was still dark here in Seattle. It's a cloudy day so that makes it darker but when I checked I found the sun rises today at 0749 and sets at 1619 or 4:19 PM for Americans who, for the most part, don't use world time. For myself, I find the twenty-four hour time system much less cumbersome so I use it when I can.

But back to the dark morning. Since I retired from my second career some five years ago I find myself getting up in the morning between 0530 and 0630 which gives me plenty of time to catch up on email, read the morning paper (gotta have my "hard copy" fix except while traveling when I read the digital "virtual edition" which is available as part of my subscription), and have breakfast before my Sweetie makes it downstairs.

She is enjoying retirement as much as I but her internal clock runs a couple hours offset from mine, which is fine because it gives us both plenty of overlap to spend together yet allows her her time in the evening to watch her shows and me to have my morning time. Of course, I have the company of my little dog, Kuro, to keep me company and share a little of my breakfast so all in all it's a pretty good arrangement.

Some people will wonder at "cozy" in the title of this post. It may seem strange but somehow I enjoy the fifteen hours (and more on the usual cloudy days) of darkness we have in mid-December at this latitude. Something about sitting at the kitchen table in artificial light, looking across Elliott Bay at the lights but seeing nothing but darkness elsewhere feels a little like a warm blanket wrapped around my shoulders.

Another feature of the December darkness is the bright spots of Christmas lights. When we walk in the evening Kuro is more interested in new smells and strange dogs but I like to watch the houses light up, one after another, with lights. They range from simple yet artistic to those lighting up the neighborhood with flamboyant displays of the new LED lights. Here are a few samples from our part of town.

This last one was so bright it almost overpowered my phone camera.

There are some downsides of the dark winter nights but even the onset of cabin fever just sets me to scanning the internet for vacation bargains.

It won't be long now before it's time for the postman to deliver the first of the seed catalogs. Looking at those revives my appreciation for the lengthening days of spring and the approach of warmer weather.

Happy winter solstice to you all.