Sunny day, sweeping the clouds away…
Fri, Dec. 31st, 2004 01:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scarlettinaIn which we appreciate nature and the effects thereof
Woke at 5:30 this morning, wide awake, sans prompting from cats, which is unusual. Got out of bed to discover that the sky was clear and sunrise was all golden over the treeline. My energy began to Get Good.
By the time I was in the car on the way to work*, the sun was shining in the gaps between big thick clouds and I was flying pretty high with Dave Matthews ("The Space Between") on the CD player. As I drove through the arboretum toward the bridge, a gentle fog marched across the water's surface toward the bridge highrise. The Cascades were crisp and clear on the eastern horizon, rugged and snow-covered with clouds roiling between the peaks. Once I was out onto the main bridge span the haze dissipated and Mt. Rainier showed herself, a ghost in a veil of mist in the southern distance. The sun flared out from behind the cloud cover, my energy hit High, and I hit the accelerator.
Coming toward campus, I felt like I was driving into Winter. In the little wetland south of the main entrance, a male and female duck paddled around each other in a half-frozen pond among thin, bare trees. Just inside the entrance, the fine-trimmed, frosted grass spread all around the fir trees. Dave Matthews sang "Pick me up, love…" as I took the curve and headed toward the parking garage.
What we learn from this fine and fabulous commute is that not only do we confirm that I live in a beautiful place but … that scarlettina really needs to get a light therapy box or lamp. I've watched my moods rollercoaster pretty sharply over this dark-and-light autumn and winter, and it's become increasingly clear that light and the lack thereof has a great deal to with it, especially given the sharp difference in temperament I feel between winter and summer. One learning down among the many yet to come.
I suspect there'll be at least one more post before the evening's festivities but…I'm too pumped to be reflective at the moment.
Oh and…
* Those of you baffled by my descriptions of my commute may find this map helpful. I travel north on I-5 and then go east on 520 out over Lake Washington to Redmond, Land of Microsoft. The arboretum is labeled in red and you can see how the freeway passes through, well, really, over it.
Woke at 5:30 this morning, wide awake, sans prompting from cats, which is unusual. Got out of bed to discover that the sky was clear and sunrise was all golden over the treeline. My energy began to Get Good.
By the time I was in the car on the way to work*, the sun was shining in the gaps between big thick clouds and I was flying pretty high with Dave Matthews ("The Space Between") on the CD player. As I drove through the arboretum toward the bridge, a gentle fog marched across the water's surface toward the bridge highrise. The Cascades were crisp and clear on the eastern horizon, rugged and snow-covered with clouds roiling between the peaks. Once I was out onto the main bridge span the haze dissipated and Mt. Rainier showed herself, a ghost in a veil of mist in the southern distance. The sun flared out from behind the cloud cover, my energy hit High, and I hit the accelerator.
Coming toward campus, I felt like I was driving into Winter. In the little wetland south of the main entrance, a male and female duck paddled around each other in a half-frozen pond among thin, bare trees. Just inside the entrance, the fine-trimmed, frosted grass spread all around the fir trees. Dave Matthews sang "Pick me up, love…" as I took the curve and headed toward the parking garage.
What we learn from this fine and fabulous commute is that not only do we confirm that I live in a beautiful place but … that scarlettina really needs to get a light therapy box or lamp. I've watched my moods rollercoaster pretty sharply over this dark-and-light autumn and winter, and it's become increasingly clear that light and the lack thereof has a great deal to with it, especially given the sharp difference in temperament I feel between winter and summer. One learning down among the many yet to come.
I suspect there'll be at least one more post before the evening's festivities but…I'm too pumped to be reflective at the moment.
Oh and…
* Those of you baffled by my descriptions of my commute may find this map helpful. I travel north on I-5 and then go east on 520 out over Lake Washington to Redmond, Land of Microsoft. The arboretum is labeled in red and you can see how the freeway passes through, well, really, over it.
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Light therapy...
Date: Sat, Jan. 1st, 2005 09:05 pm (UTC)As far as the light therapy box or lamp - ironically the other day in Costco I saw they have a "travel" size light therapy thing that looks like a clutch purse and opens up to become a therapy light. I don't know if you Costco but I do, and will certainly take you to have a look-see.
Oh, and one other thing - the big light therapy boxes are expensive space hogs and very bright, and very difficult to be around, unless you are far away from them - in my experience. (I roomed with a woman who had SAD and none of us could be in the same room with the box turned on - we had to be one room away.)