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How Not to Shut Down So Early at Night

It has only been a couple weeks since I stopped my incessant whining about hot sunlight and dry air. And now I am already whining about too many hours of darkness, and getting cabin fever during rainy days.

There is something to learn from the campers who wear headlamps at night. They continue to do useful things at night, instead of limiting themselves to boob toob, yoob toob, or miserable books.

In fact modern headlamps having gotten ridiculously good. No longer are you allocating one hand to carry things, while trying to get things done with the other hand. Have you ever tried to operate a zipper with one hand? A camper spends most of the day fighting zippers, especially in winter.



The other day somebody went mountain biking by me at night. I couldn't believe how bright his headlamp was. I am still not motivated to ride at night, but it would sure be great to stay active in the evening with daily chores.

Ahh, but there's the battery, the weak link in any of these electrical gadgets. AAA batteries have never been appealing. I chose a headlight with a rechargeable lithium battery that plugs into a USB port. After all, these are available in a car.

Comments

Anonymous said…
"Miserable books" you say?

Have you given up on literature and philosophy?

George
Welome back, George. No, I haven't given up on books, but my metabolism is only good for a few hours per day of reading. After that, a sourness sets in.
Anonymous said…

I have electricity so having light at all times is not an issue for me but I have found a great pleasure these last few years in allowing the rhythm of my body to align itself with the changes in weather and seasons. When you think back at farmers before the age of electricity, batteries, etc. and the cost of fuel was an issue, they would pack it up with the setting sun. Women could knit and crochet in the dark (that's how good they were) and I'm not sure what the men did. Maybe that's when they told stories to their children, etc. and I can't help but think how that sort of thing pulled the family together. We live in a pretty neurotic world and most people don't realize it because they are part of the neuroses....angered too easily, too easily reactive, "on a mission" as exemplified by road rage, crimes of passion, etc., no tolerance for others, narrow minded, etc. etc. etc. All leading to no sense of community and every man out for himself. OK. I'm not blaming all this on electricity and batteries. I'm just saying that quiet times are quite wonderful and the change of seasons and weather are perfect times to excuse oneself from the hustle and bustle of the crazy world and spend one's time wonderfully within their own sense of experience. Personally I've taken to memorizing short poems that are wonderfully symbolic and meaningful to me and I recite them to myself, totally absorbed and wrapped in the beauty of the poem and I so love this separateness from the neuroses and craziness of life in the fast lane.
Anonymous, it seems like a good idea of yours to memorize poems during long winter nights. It certainly doesn't require a lot of electricity! It might be kind of fun to light a candle or two -- just enough to read the poetry book.

But I just don't see long dark winter evenings as being anything other than negative. An old man can't sleep 14 hours per day just because the tilt of the Earth produces it.

Thanks again for your comment. You put a lot of thought into it.