As I’m sure you’ve noticed at this time of year, it certainly does get dark early in the evenings. 

Now I’m about to throw some science at you, so if you’re one of those “flat-earthers” or someone who believes that the Apollo moon missions were faked, you may want to click on to something else this week.

Are they gone yet?  Good – bunch of dirt-eaters.

Anyway, as I was saying, due to the tilt of the earth, we’re leaning away from the sun at this time of year.  That not only gives us our wintertime temps, but also impacts how much sunlight we get each day (which isn’t much).  Now, I’m not saying we have it as bad as our friends up above the Arctic Circle, where they enter a period of absolutely no sun for months on end, but here locally, we’re down to about 9.5 hours a day, which is significant and noticeable.  Just ask a local farmer.

Contrast that to the middle of summer, when we get around 15 hours a day.

It’s dark when I leave to go to work in the morning and it’s getting dark when I head home each night, which can be hard on one’s morale, mental health, and well-being.  If my wife and I go into town to catch some dinner, the conversation often goes like this:

“Wow, it feels like its 11:00 at night – what time is it?”

“6:30, dear.”

“Jayzus.”

You get the idea.

Long nights are a chance to do some reading, get those Christmas packages wrapped, or maybe get caught up on that Netflix series everyone is talking about. 

I guess I better figure out some way to pass the evening away, because it’s only 7:45, and if I go to bed now, I’ll be up and wide awake at three in the morning.

Not that any of that matters – I haven’t slept through the night since 2010, anyway.

Somebody break out a jigsaw puzzle.