Counting Down

I think I am coping much better with the darkness this year.  Last year I mistakenly thought my sleepiness and general crummy feeling was a result of coming down with something: how you feel the day before you get sick.  Not really symptomatic, just not so hot.  My solution then was to sleep, at least until it got light out.  As nurse-sister would say, that was a maladaptive coping strategy.

This year I am working out a lot more as the days get shorter, in the bright-white and brightly lit gym.  I still wake up lots of mornings not really feeling 100%, but after working out I usually feel better, less sleep seems to actually make me feel more awake, and I have not been sick (last week’s GI virus notwithstanding).

I leave Sweden a few hours before the sun sets for the longest night… and I am not sad to miss it.  I am sure lots of Vancouverites flee  the city for warmer, sunnier climes over the holidays (even I did it once when I lived there), but now I am SO looking forward to Vancouver for the (friends and family and Christmas and Graham) but also the weather.   The (relative) warmth and light seem really appealing, and I wouldn’t complain with the higher humidity since a family of static electricities have been making a nest in my hair over the last couple of months.

Here is a nice cheering-up song for the days until then.  The movie is a completely uninspiring album cover, but the song is great (the lyrics are worth the world’s longest intro – you can imagine your grandparents dancing during WW II to pass the time.)