The Doldrums of the Dark.

Earlier this year I started writing something other than a blog or academic papers. I got 35,000 words in – about 100-120 pages in modern typesetting – and set it down in July. I want to return to it. But it’s hard to write. I’m sure there are tricks to it that I don’t know. But nothing works better than simple self-discipline. Which I don’t feel strongly at the moment.

It’s December 21st. Last night was, finally, the darkest night of the year. It’s time to have the sun rise again. But the next week in ECC looks miserably grey and rainy. The entire East Coast is under warm but wet conditions. I’d rather the cold, if it’s to be this dark. I’d rather snow than rain. It’s all wrong. The weather is wrong, because the climate is wrong.

I’m still exercising regularly, but the slow downbeat of the dark has depleted my reserves of will. Though I can see the fruits of my labor, in my fitness and my body. I look forward to the better part of the year: the colder part with the daylight lengthening. I’m eager for winter, when the temperature drops but the sunset recedes. I could do well with a few months of bright, clear, cold.