Grey

It has been so grey here. After our late lunch Friday afternoon, out on the porch in the sunlight, the sun disappeared and still has yet to be seen. Sadly, our home is already quite dark, with a large live oak shielding the front yard from much natural light. But when the sun doesn't shine, we end up using the lamp in the living room during the day. It's downright depressing.

I don't know how I ever survived the winters in New York. The sun rarely shines and often people end up with seasonal affective disorder because they don't get enough vitamin D from the sun. After four years here, the lack of sunlight has a grave effect on my interior life -- when the sun doesn't shine, I want to pull the covers over my head and hide all day. Surely I'm not the only one.

I tried to make the best of it this weekend. I sewed, knitted, started a very good book (On Beauty by Zadie Smith), did quite a bit of laundry, and baked. Adam was working on Saturday and ended up with an overtime shift on Sunday, so most of my weekend was spent with the little girl. It didn't take me long to realize, though, that even with Lily there, I had spent too much time alone in a dark house and in my head. Not a good place to be.

Today is better, though it's still grey. Adam is home, and we spent the morning perusing (and purchasing) books for Lily at the bookstore before heading to the library for free books. On our return home, we found a package from my mom filled with pumpkin spice coffee, a stuffed reindeer, and baby-sized mittens. Surprise mail is the best, I swear.