Do Short Days Go By Faster?

The days are getting steadily shorter. The sunrise this morning was 7:36, and it set at 4:09. I actually only caught a brief glimpse of it anyway. I was at the dump, attempting to stuff old insulation into an already-overfilled canister. For a moment, the sun tried to shine through the clouds, giving me a quick look at its silhouette. That was all. Greg had suggested that I wait until after lunch (late already at 2:00) to go, but I didn't want to be there in the waning shadows. It's getting harder to see all the time. The little shreds of daylight can make a huge difference.



The old insulation and other assorted construction garbage are the result of a much-needed facelift to the bathroom at Diamond Willow. This marks the third year of a fall project in that cabin. Last year it was a new bedroom floor, and two years ago, I refinished the living room and kitchen floors. It's a good thing the cabin patiently waits for us throughout the year--as do all of you wonderful guests. Once again, we are trekking down to the wire on getting it done, but it's moving along nicely.


Something else that is moving along is the cooling off of the lake. Today we had lots of steam rising from the surface, and I saw a chunk or two of ice floating by. When I look at these photos, I can't help but feel cold, cold, cold. Until the lake freezes, the wind has an extra bite to it, filled with the dampness that will soon be trapped until spring. I suppose that I should be grateful for the little bit of moisture in the air. Winter around here is a pretty drying season. I go through several bottles of lotion. What a difference from summer, when the humidity is always too high for some people! At any rate, it is supposed to be well-below zero tonight, so if the wind calms down enough, perhaps we will see that white coat from shore to shore. I do hear it blowing still at this moment.....



As for the days going by faster, well, yes, I believe they do. It seems that when it is dark while we are having morning coffee, and dark long before dinner, the time for getting work accomplished is reduced greatly. Funny, though, there still are the same twenty-four hours in the day. I guess that I must be a daytime person, that's all. Good thing I don't live in Alaska!