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The shorter the days get, the more care they require. It's about time I realized that as winter looms, I have to take advantage of the little sunlight we get. I've wasted far too many hours of daylight already, and they're dwindling even as I sit here writing about them.
Some of the things I like to do can be done only in the daytime. Others can only be done well, or can only be fully enjoyed, when the sun is out. I can see to read much better by sunlight than by any kind of artificial light. I've tried different ways of doing paperwork after dark, but most of the time I give up and move on.
Yesterday I did get outside in the garden for a few minutes, but a few minutes were all I could manage. My legs started to tighten up the first time I bent over to pluck out a weed. It didn't take long to get short of breath, and I lost my enthusiasm for yard work pretty quickly.
There's plenty of time after the sun goes down to watch TV and clean house and eat and drink and all those other things that can go on 24/7. There's more time all the time, in fact. In a month or so, when the days start getting longer, the weather gets worse. Too much darkness means not enough time to read.
So that's how I spent most of my Sunday. I read several chapters in my book, and I got a head start on Monday's paperwork. The Boss gave me a few assignments the last time we talked Friday, but I don't think he expected me to work on them over the weekend. Won't he be surprised when he gets to his office tomorrow morning and finds all the good things I faxed to him today! I fully expect a mountain of gratitude to flow in my direction. (Knowing how quickly mountains flow, I doubt I'll be disappointed.)
This is my new philosophy. It's this week's version of a guiding principle. Make hay while the sun shines. Remember how long and dark the nights are, and how early they start, and get moving. Don't put off until 4:30 anything I actually want to accomplish, because as soon as twilight descends, I'm useless. I might as well vegetate in front of the TV or the computer after that, because I'm not good for much else.
Unfortunately (I guess), one of the things that comes easier in the daytime is sleep. I could sleep in every morning if I had the chance, and I could probably take a nap almost any time during the day. Then at night, when everybody with good sense is resting up for the next morning, I'm wide awake, resisting the sheets. There's no logic there, but that's how it is. | 
