i remember a day, probably a decade and a half ago a new friend was touring me around his high tunnels in the middle of winter. surrounded by amplified sunlight, row upon row of of green leafy vegetables, and an engaging host, i was first introduced to seasonal affective disorder. WHAT? yep, my friend claimed he was prone to the lack of sunlight, short day, long night, winter blues and his high tunnels full of work and light and warmth and produce were his cure. funny, i thought, kind of funny.
i guess at the time i hadn’t ever had the winter blues. i was new to farming, new to parenting, new new new, it was all too thrilling to notice the gray skies. but now friends, RIGHT NOW, i know all about it. when day after day dawns cloudy, when the dense gray cover refuses to part and let my beloved sun come through, i start to go a little batty. sure i have a cozy house. heck, we don’t use solar power as my beloved farm wives do, so i can still work on the computer, i can do indulgent things like plug in holiday lights. but nothing, nothing, beats the sun.
when last week gave me two glorious mid december days of full sun, i knew without a doubt i needed to spend every waking moment in it. i picked the biggest possible current project and dug in. literally. full of straw, hay and aged manure one of our livestock facilities was in need of a clean out. we had been talking of it for weeks, now that hay feeding season is upon us, we wanted to build a compost pile from last year’s leftovers and have a clean slate for our milk cow to over winter. the timing was perfect. the job was perfect. the weather was perfect.
two sunny days passed. seven truck loads were moved. one big compost pile was formed. we felt great, the sun and work restored us. the gray has returned. i know this cycle will repeat over and over again until the sun comes back for good next spring. in the meantime, i will treasure every ray i can get!
wishing you all peace and pleasure as the days shorten. soon we will celebrate the solstice and welcome the return of the light. oh yes.