my uncle squire, my dad’s brother, was a mainstay in the wallace household while i was growing up. he was also one of three people whose phone numbers i had memorized (besides my own).

somewhere nestled in my childhood, there was a day (or more likely a few) when squire made it known that the winter months were pretty awful with no sun and how summertime daylight is just great. of course, being a nerdy family, we wallaces were well-versed on axial tilt and the solstices. so i took it upon myself to make sure squire was well aware of the daylight or lack thereof.

common scenario:

*ring* *ring*

“hello”

“hi squire, it’s kate! guess what! in 6 months, the days start getting shorter again!”

“grumble grumble grumble”

“hahahahahaha!”

or

*ring* *ring*

“hello”

“hi squire, it’s kate! guess what!  the days are getting shorter!”

“grumble grumble grumble”

“hahahahahaha!”

looking back, i am aghast at this horrible behavior. these days, i know how precious that daylight is and how it can affect a person’s mood. i was evil, evil, evil and can’t believe my parents let me get away with that! although, i did talk to my dad yesterday, lamenting that that was a nasty thing to do, and he did say that squire enjoyed it. i’m sure he enjoyed talking to his nieces and nephews on the phone, but the subject matter sure could have been a little better.

on a related note, while the darkness keeps me in a mood where i want to sleep all the time, my seasonal affective disorder has been pretty manageable the past few years. i rack it up to keeping on keeping on on the treadmill regularly over the winter. the treadmill sure is boring, but the chemicals the run releases sure do help.

on a related note to the related note, half marathon training starts in 2 months. this news is twofold: 1) waaah half marathon training on the treadmill is the boringest of boring but 2) THAT means that april is a mere 5 months away. once the training starts, i at least know the end of winter is in sight.