Friday, November 20, 2009

A Dark Time

It is a struggle to stay awake.

I am in a constant state of drowsy powsy. My eyelids hang, heavily, suspended by sheer will power and forced concentration.

It is like a permanent early morning. This is not good. I am grumpiest in the early morning.

It is autumn here in the Northern Hemisphere, a dark time.

The summer solstice in June delivers 20 hours of daylight in Oslo. We are now heading for the winter solstice in December which delivers 6.

The 6 or so hours of light are obfuscated by the grayness of the autumn sky.

We are fortunate. The poor buggers in Tromsø are now in a total darkness known as mørketid, polar night, or dark time literally translated. They will not see the sun until the middle of January.

For a sun worshipper like me, it is a huge struggle.

I was in the habit of popping to the loo for a quick afternoon nap at the office. I don’t bother now. I simply clear my desk, make a pillow with my scarf and get horizontal.

No one bothers with me, I am too grumpy.

Thank goodness Christmas is coming. Xmas in Norway is magical. It is like being in Whoville but without the Grinch.

The run up to xmas is filled by many dinners and revelry with colleagues and friends in preparation for the big family holiday. The ambiance of the town centre, the pagan symbolism, and the good nature of my fellow Norwegians lights my soul.

We spend our xmas in the mountains, and the ski conditions look to be good this year! I am moist with anticipation.

A special time to look forward to, and help get me through this dark period.

Following xmas, it is a short run to March and the spring equinox which delivers and equal 12 hours of sunlight and darkness.

My tan will be back by Easter. Thank the sun gods for that.

Beaverboosh

16 comments:

Unknown said...

Ooooh brother I hear you! I am curled up in the fetal position, praying for snow...some reason to get outside.

Headed to Argentina next week for a few days in the SUN SUN SUN... I will try to bring home a few rays for you...: ) need to start planning the next get together.. (any reason to drink eh?)

Anonymous said...

although not exactly a sun worshipper, i don't do well in the dark of winter. thinking about getting a plant light to pick up my mood...

Corinne said...

This winter is not nearly as bad as last year for me, but the grayness of it all gets on my nerves. Oh, sunshine, I miss you!

upset waitress said...

6 hours of daylight? That equates to 18 hours of happy hour in my eyes! I'll trade you.

Skogkjerring said...

Hahahaha, Whoville...that was cute! Yeah, I think we can all relate to the drowsy powsy feeling you have these days and the fact that we really don't have sunshine the limited time we have light doesn't help either..but I think it will be a lot nicer when the Christmas lights go up..maybe I'll just leave them up until it gets lighter again??
Hang in there! Enjoy the winter skiing..I'm thinking I MIGHT try cross country skiing this year...MAYBE...we'll see..

Teena in Toronto said...

I don't care how cold it is, I need my sunshine. It makes me feel alive :)

Anonymous said...

it sounds like you have a hint of that childlike wonder of the Christmas holiday. i envy that.

then, there's the other stuff too with the cold and dark...

hell, just hang on to the Christmas feeling.

nursemyra said...

which part of you is moist?

dorothy said...

BB! i am back! just posted a little piece of blah afterwhich i came to your most esteemed scribbles only to be greeted once again with the realisation that i am able to channel you! i too have written about christmas! isn't wonderful? isn't it grand? some might say it's simply that time of the year, but i don't give the unbelievers any time to sully my thoughts of our perfect union. yours eternally. dot

Michele said...

I don't know how people survive in Tromsø, or anywhere up there. The heartless demon Winter nearly drove me out of my mind last year but I am ready for him this year: I have asked Santa to bring plane tickets to California. I have been a good girl, so I expect he will oblige.

RennyBA's Terella said...

You'll get used to it - when you get old :lol:

So know you can see why we are celebrating Yule like crazy here in Norway (the return of the sun)! It's a much older traditions than Christmas you know!

Anonymous said...

Lots of sun here, but no Sunny.

I used to live north of 55 in Manitoba ... almost no daylight during winter. It was awful.

beaverboosh said...

ain - be patient grasshopper, soon the snow shall come... and the sun. have a great time in Argentina, never been, slightly jealous, can't wait for the photos, bikini shots please

df - ja, sad lamps are fab

corinne - ya get used to it... it's the price you pay for 24 hour sun in the summer

uw - ja, a bit hard on the liver though

amy - welcome! hope you get some skiing in this year

teena - cold winter days skiing in the mountains with sparkling sunshine is soon at hand, thankfully

gnukid - xmas here is magical for kids of all shapes and sizes

nm - almost all parts of me are constantly moist, i wear alot of cashmere

d - the great universal connection of the spiritually enlightened my dear, its fab

michele - i dream of California and my friends in Venice, it is one of my favy places on the planet

renny - bar the week after the clocks change, i love it!!!

az - north of 55 to seville eh, man you are one interesting chick

Anonymous said...

It must be hard. I already feel more tired these days because of the lack of sunlight, I can only imagine for you.

Anonymous said...

I just looked up your latitude: ~59 degrees. We are at ~53 degrees and I find the winter long and interminable.

I remember when we lived near Beaverlodge, AB (latitude ~55 degrees). Around Christmas time (winter solstice), the sun would come up in the southeast, trace a low arc across the southern sky and set in the southwest. Total daylight, maybe a half hour to an hour more than you. Depressing.

And the cold makes it worse.

I'm looking ahead to spring too, my friend.

beaverboosh said...

rob - looked at Beaverlodge on the map - it is not even close to the middle of nowhere. Must be one of the northern most communities in Canada! Darkness is bearable because we ski every weekend but this year the cold (averaging -15 in the mountains) is too brutal. It has been -30 with the wind chill, too cold for cross country skiing!