It's so dark outside

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It's so dark outside

I'm really surprised at how dark it's been lately. I guess I spent too much time closer to the equator than I thought. When I get up in the morning (and I don't get up early) it's dark outside! I realize this will change a bit after the weekend, but then it will just be so dark at night! How are you feeling about this seasonal change?

I usually love the changing of the seasons but the past few years I've gotten really bad colds from the change so I don't really look forward to that party LOL! But I do love the changes, especially when fall and winter come. We got our first flurries of the season in NH yesterday and though I wasn't very thrilled about it, it was a nice sight to see! I don't really mind all the darkness because the sun hurts my eyes most of the time so I actually tend to be more pleased by the darker days.

I've been having a really hard time getting out of bed since its still pretty dark outside when the alarm goes off at 7:30am. I am not looking forward to the time change though, with it getting dark earlier. I'd rather have that daylight at the end of my day when I can enjoy it!

I hate the darker mornings and darker nights! The only consolation - and it's a big one! - Christmas

Yea... where we live (on the east coast)... I've noticed the last week to 10 days at around 6:30 the dark thick clouds of night have been moving in on top of just the natural night time setting in. It seems almost ominous... kind of predictive in it's nature... the down time is coming. I, myself definitely prefer the sunlight!!! Although, my favorite seasons are Fall and Spring. I just absolutely love all the color changes, the change of life (so to speak). I know we need winter (the dormant season, too) but it's my least favorite. Kind of symbolic to our lives in a sense. I'm sure there will be things we love about old age, all the memories, love, & experiences we have had through our many years; but, I know we will probably all will wish we had just a little longer to live. smiley Can you tell I find seasons, changes in time, in nature, in the world as a whole amazing... how they seem to relate even to our own human life/existence.

I do like this time change though because it falls back and I get to sleep an hour later. smiley However, it takes my dogs a while to realize they need NOT wake me a 6am instead of 7am... LoL

I'm not a big fan of the darker nights. I like the amount of sunlight we have in the summer. I'm not an early-to-rise person and I like having the sunlight stick around after 6:00 pm. I don't mind the cooler weather, though. I'm on the east coast, too, Shawna! I'm in upstate NY. smiley

We just came out of our dark times. Summer is coming here! I work at night but its really weird atm because when I start work its light but when I finish its dark lol ...just got to get used to it!

Dee: I'm in the Half-Back state, SC (other mid-east coast states may be called the same thing, not sure). If you haven't heard that term... It's basically this: My grandparents were from Maine, they moved/lived in Florida during their retirement years, during the winter months; but when it got too hot down there and they got older (traveling shorter distances) they would only go half way back to Maine in the summers. Hence the nickname. smiley and as Paul Harvey used to say: and now you know the rest of the story! smiley

I'm just going to jump right on in.

I hate how dark the days are! I live in S FL so we don't get nice seasonal changes, we just get dark! If it were accompanied by beautiful fall leaves or frosty grounds, it may be more welcomed, but now it just limits our activities during the days. It's no fun and the mosquitos just get bad. I go back to work in Dec (on Maternity Leave) and I"m not looking forward for the walk from my car to my building on campus because it's so dark in the morning.

Shawna - I haven't heard that term, but I know a lot of people who have done the same thing! Go all the way south and then realize it's too hot and heading all the way back north is just too far. smiley Love the Paul Harvey reference! smiley

Wow, great question! This year I'm not really noticing the change, I guess cause my change is really hitting me hard these last few weeks! iNSOMNIA. I'm usually a night gal, easy to stay up to midnight or 1 am...with hubby leaving at 4:30 am and my son up and gone by 7:20 - I can usaually sleep in to 9 or 10. But I've had nights - 3 this last week that I couldn't get to sleep till 5 am after hubby left. Then get 4 hrs and up again. But I started going the other way, in between, I went to bed at 9:30 pm once, son wanted to know what was wrong. and the dogs messed up as well, getting up and being fussy from 5 am to 8:30 am...doesn't know what she wants.

The best part is, we are just a tip of the state -Indiana- that is central time zone. Which I love!!!!!! I do miss the Fall in New England, but I never really liked Eastern Time Zone.

I don't mind it being dark in the mornings - I get up and go to work early in the AM so it's dark anyways. But I don't like having only 1 or 2 hours of daylight left when I am getting off work (because most days I work late and it's dark when I get home...)

I need daily doses of sunshine to keep me happy!

-i don't mind it being dark in the mornings neither, i'm always busy doing something so i'm ok with that, but dark night and so early is not the business, i wish there was more sun light around 7pm.. but it's not going to happen..

In Northern Sweden the dark times have begun. It´s dark when you get up in the morning, a few hours of light i the middle of the day and darkness when you finish work..... The light is back again in march - it feels like an endless time away....

@Jennica: Sweden sounds very "similar" to where I live on the mid East Coast of the US. I wonder what the latitude coordinates are, maybe similar in relation to the equator?

I'm in Alberta and today is the second time this week (and season) to have snow. Its been getting darker and darker the last couple weeks. I leave for work about 7:10 and its been completely dark for at least a week now. I'm not looking forward to winter settling in and scraping the windsheilds and warming the car up at 7:00am at -30C. We're so close to the Rockies, but I don't ski so that's not a big draw, but the mountains are pretty to look at all year round. We are luckier in Calgary than most of Canada in the winter because we get Chinook winds and very mild winters compared to the rest of the country. It could be -20 in the morning and +10 by the afternoon if a Chinook comes through. I grew up in Winnipeg (Winterpeg as the rest of the country calls it) and believe me, we got "real" winter there. Blizzards, snow banks 20ft deep, and -50C with a windchill. When a snow storm rolled through, it would shut the city down. I remembe as a kid one snow storm in Winnipeg we had -100F, 60mph winds, and the only way to get around was on skidoo... So, yeah, I know winter and not looking forward to the cold... smiley

I live in Western Washington and I love the time change. Every year I marvel at the shortness of daylight in the winter and how long the days are in summer. Never ceases to amaze me, even after 21 years of living here. I think I'd be bored if I lived near the equator with the same amount of light every day and very little change through the year.

I don't care for the early darkness, mostly because I work outside (I'm a letter carrier) and I hate trying to read the mail in the dark. Winter is my least favorite time of year, as working outside in the cold is no fun. I can't wait until I can retire (hopefully 4 years or less) and don't have to be outside in the winter or dark unless I want to be, not because I have to be for work.

Shawna: The latitude for Umeå, where I live, is 63.8 and the longitude is 20.2

...the latitude where I live is -81.03 and the longitude is 34.00. So, I guess you're in a little warmer climate than me. smiley

Quote:
The latitude for Umeå, where I live, is 63.8 and the longitude is 20.2

@Cat: Wow, you already have snow! o.O

@ Lorien: Yeah, but it will probably melt away in a couple days. That's the way it is here. Knee deep in snow one day, then a Chinook wind comes along and all the snow melts and its like a spring day. A lot of people here suffer from migranes because of the Chinooks. I didn't bother me for about the first 13-15 years I lived here, but each year it bothers me more and more and I get worse headaches each year. Its a pressure change that does it.

I can imagine Cat. Here we don´t have snow, but the weather changes a lot from one day to the other or even during the day. It always brings health problems smiley

It is so dark...it's playing with my mind! smiley

We got snow last night (Tues) for several hours in South Carolina in early November, none-the-less. It melted as it was hitting the ground, of course, but... I'm ready for summer and flip flops again already... smiley LoL

Hey, I have a bed on my craft room that´s empty. It´s just a matter of comming Shawna smiley

It´s lovely hot here this week. Around 86F smiley

I just have to warn you: It´s a one-and-a-half hour drive from the closest beach and I don´t have a car...

This darkness makes me want to hibernate and sleep a few months away. I really have to focus on getting out in the afternoon and getting fresh air and sun, even if it's cold. I have a friend who works 12 hour shifts and has a dog, so I volunteered to walk him. It's win/win, she keeps the carpets clean and I get my exercise. It's nice because I feel like I have to go over and walk him, so the commitment to exercise is there.

@Lorien: I wish I could afford the airfare! I'd be on a jet plane tomorrow!!! smiley

@Kim: I know really... hope it works for you smiley

@Shawna: lol! You must think seriously on my offer. Rentals on my area are already overpriced due to next year´s FIFA World Cup. In fact, everything is overpriced here already:(

Kim: Hibernate might just be the solution! smiley