March 1, 2001

Celebrating Equinox Day

Yesterday was my Personal Equinox Day. That’s the day when the sun is shining both when I leave for work and when I return home. This celestial event changes every year, depending on my schedule. This time it was later than usual, since I’ve been staying later at work. It’s an uplifting moment to realize you no longer have to rely on flickering mercury vapor street lamps to find your way home.

Spring is my favorite season. I never had this feeling, growing up in L.A. We had seasons but the changes were more subtle than the extremes of winter and summer here in D.C. I never knew the sight of a daffodil rising above a bed of dead leaves could make me feel so good!

Fall is my least favorite time of the year. I have to rake millions of leaves (I never had to do that in L.A., just a few palm fronds every now and then), suntan lotion commercials are replaced by cold remedy commercials on TV, and you can no longer wear white shoes and belts! As the sun sets earlier and earlier, I get, well, ok, I’ll admit it, I get a little depressed. The extra hour of sleep you get with the end of daylight savings time is not enough to offset the bleakness awaiting you when you awake.

I thought I might have SAD a few years ago so I borrowed a special bank of lights from a friend. I would sit in front of it for 15 minutes every morning, while I ate my breakfast, but to no avail. Coffee, alone, did a much better job of lightening my spirits.

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