Monday, February 8, 2021

'I Saw the Light'

 

What a tremendous amount of sunlight the days are bringing now

It is the coldest morning of the winter, -32 C plus enough wind to make the weather service sound the alarm about -40 C windchill.

The winter, the cold, the pandemic and just the uncertainty of things make us feel like we are bearing an enormous weight. For me, those symptoms of depression mean it is time to do something. For starters, let's just look where I am right now -- sitting in our sunroom at 9 a.m. and the sunlight is flooding me with its warmth. The days are much longer now and even though it is cold outside, the sunlight feels great.

Sunlight is such a wonderful thing. I heard someone from England on TV refer to places around people's homes that are sheltered from the wind and that face the sun as "sun traps." I like that. Even here, with the -40 C temperature, if I put my hand against a dark object that is facing the sun, the object is warm. I like to find our "sun traps" and stay there as long as I can with my face beaming back at the mother sun.

Lots of our friends and family in the States now report getting their covid vaccines. Way to go! That is tremendous news. It is slower for us here in Canada because we don't have any vaccine makers in the country; however, some vaccinations have already taken place. A real surge in vaccinations is expected to begin within a week or so. Everybody is supposed to get theirs by September. My guess is it will actually happen several months sooner. That should mean the border will open again. Hurray! 

Probably preventative measures like mask wearing will continue for awhile but so what? I've got no problem with it. The quicker we pound the virus into submission the better. Let's hit it with everything we've got.

I look at mask wearing-rules the same as those for public nudity. It just helps things run smoothly.

Incidentally, here in Canada we are not as uptight about nudity as people are in the States. I think the reason for that is our climate and bugs. Anyone who goes nude here deserves some admiration just for their toughness although their intelligence is, of course, suspect.

Anyway, cheer up everybody! Spring is just around the corner!



4 comments:

Kim Gross said...

I like your optimism- hope you're right! I haven't been vaccinated yet, but I'm on the waiting list at the clinic, so I'm hoping it will be soon. The virus cases have stayed relatively low in our county so far. I've been staying at home for the most part and trying to walk every day, although our weather has taken an ugly turn the last few days. For now I'm stuck with walking laps in the basement and running up and down the stairs. Boring, but at least it's a workout and it's warm. I'm definitely ready to get life back to normal (at least somewhat!). See you on Red Lake this summer!

Pat said...

Love your sunroom. How large is it ?

Dan Baughman said...

It is 16' x 16'. I can't believe how well it has worked. It is located on the south side of our house and so gets all the sun in the winter when it is in the southern half of the sky. In the summer, it is in the shade when the sun is in the northern half. So, it is warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Dan Baughman said...

Kim,
You are inspiration. We all need to stay in shape. You don't want to be too puny to reel in those big pike and walleye.

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