11/08/2010

Light of November

As we hurtle towards the shortest day of the year, light becomes a huge topic of conversation for those of us who live above the 49th parallel.

This weekend, we "fell back", as in turned back the clocks by one hour in order to, to...help kids walk home from school in the sunlight? (Do kids still do that? Aren't they all bussed?) Allow farmers to farrow their fields in the late afternoon? Huh? Their combines now come equipped with lights, and stereo systems, and leather seats, so that's not right. No....no, wait!  I think it's the opposite. We "spring forward" for those reasons. I have no idea why we fall back. Because someone in 1926 said we should, before the installation of  Sirius Radio on the ol' John Deere? Who knows?  I'm sure someone will enlighten me.



But this I do know...
 This morning I woke up in the dark, drove to work in the dark.
Came home in the dark. Heard the term Seasonally Affective Disorder (SAD) for the first time this season, and thought about the benefits of being a bear,
sleeping the dark away.
In the meantime, I wait patiently for sunrise, 
knowing it will help lighten my mood.

Rust and gold and copper and gray. This is the light of November.

9 comments:

Dave said...

I say we start a petition to eliminate daylight savings time...or we could just hibernate and forget the whole thing...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

A human kind of human said...

This is an incredible photo. I can quite imagine the impact of SAD in you part of the world. Over here it is still dark when I have to get up in the winter and even that bit of darkness has a negative effect on me. We are used to lots and lots of light, bright sunlight, almost every day of the year and I cannot imagine what it is like to have so much darkness and cloudy skies. However, just hang on... if it is fall now, it will be summer again in just a few months.

jabblog said...

When we see the sun in the winter it is a precious gift! (Not much sun here, today - grey skies and rain!)

steviewren said...

Oh, I'm sorry about the driving to work in the dark and coming home in the dark. I live in Alabama so we only have to do one or the other here. I really dislike driving home in the dark though.

I must admit that I love the time change because the sun is up earlier. I'm a night person and without the sun getting up is torture. This morning I woke early with tons of energy.

Ruth said...

I can tolerate short days if there is sunshine. Some weeks we get so little sun that it does affect my mood and energy. It is beautiful this week.
Lovely photos!

Lori Skoog said...

Being retired, I can take full advantage of the light...and I do appreciate it so much. Beautiful photos!

Leovi said...

Beautiful great tones.

Anonymous said...

I was thinking today how interesting it would be to live closer to the equator and not have to deal with this incredible swing of light. But then I remembered how much I love the long shadows of autumn. I hope you get to spend more time in the sun. Even at this low angle, it really stimulates the part of the brain that craves it.

elvira pajarola said...

Oh yes, in the last photo you catched the LIGHT just GORGEOUSLY!!!!!

Very wonderful, this November light, Susan!

Thank you so much for stepping in my Tuscany, I appreciated it very much!

ciao ciao elvira