Sunday, December 17, 2006 - 19:26

Winter in London

So this is my first winter in London, and it's certainly an experience.

I don't really know how long winter is here, or how long it lasts, so I don't know if we're half-way through or just starting. But so far, it's not too bad. It hasn't been nearly as rainy as I thought it would be, so there are really two components: the cold, and the dark.

Luckily, with central heating and double glazing, it's not too cold inside (and you can always sit wrapped up in a blanket if you have to!). It's pretty cold outside, though, and not just in the morning and evening - it doesn't make too much difference during the day, because I'm at work where it's fairly cold in the office anyway, but going out for lunch it's pretty damn cold. But it's a nice cold, an invigorating cold, and I carry a scarf and gloves with me in case it gets too cold :-) And it's actually quite pretty - clear, cold sky, with skeleton-ish trees... and of course all the christmas decorations. And it's perfect weather to see the contrails of the planes flying over London, which are just amazing when the sun catches them.

What's worse is the dark. It's dark when I get up, although it's light by the time I get to work. But it starts getting a little bit darker about 2:30 in the afternoon - not dark, just not bright sunny afternoon any more - and by about 4, I guess, the sun is really going down. So during the week, by the time I leave work, it's fully dark. Over the weekend you get to see more sun, but you end up with a very short afternoon and a very long evening - so you feel like you don't get much done, but then you feel like the evening's dragging on and on and it's time to go to bed, even though it's only 7. And of course, if it is cloudy and rainy, it's dark all day round.

I can see why people are affected by winter - not just people with Seasonal Affective Disorder, I think it's a bit depressing for everyone. I try to go out every day at lunch, just to get some sunlight, and that helps. It's not too bad, but I do hope winter doesn't carry on too much longer, get too much colder, get dark too much earlier, or get more rainy!

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