Contemporary essays, fiction, and opinion offered regularly by author Anne Brandt.






Question for the week
How might I punctuate the following sentence? Students, stop cutting in line(?)stop throwing food(?)and stop leaving trash.
Ten minutes to
write.
Less time to
read.
Liking the Dark
Posted: 08/26/05
The hardest thing I do every morning is shake myself out of bed. In terms of challenge, the rest of the day is downhill from there. It’s even harder in winter, when we rise before the sun (which makes me think she has the same problem I do).

As the days begin to shorten and daylight arrives later and later, I’ve been pondering how to come to terms with my morningitis. Right now, if I rose in the dark instead of waiting for the light, it would mean an extra hour or so each day in which to get things done,. By mid-December it will mean an extra two hours. And that’s just in the morning.

We lose about two hours of sunlight in the evening, and I had the same problem with that too. I dreaded the early nightfall and felt it made for long, dreary nights. But a couple years ago, I asked myself what I might do to reverse this “glass is half empty” philosophy to a “glass is half full.” What benefit could I find in nighttime at five o’clock when summer lingers until ten?

I worked it around in my mind for a while and then realized that the early darkness provided a great cover for the frequent grey that is characteristic of where I live in late fall and winter. It is a great leveler; and, once in place, you can’t notice the gloom any more. Rather, you can enjoy long evenings by the fire reading a book. Or watching a DVD. Or writing.

I’m having a harder time with making the morning glass half full, but I’m working on it. Any helpful suggestions are appreciated.


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