so what if it is the longest day

london 8.33am 13.6C sunny longest day thursday 2018

sunrise 4.43am, sunset 9.21pm. 16hrs 38mins

actually the days are allready quite long yesterday and the day before, and will feel just as long for the next two days at least. essentially today is just longer by a few seconds really.

but people are fixated by statistics, and numbers, so most of us will celebrate today as the longest day. some might even feel happier because of it.

i dont seem to be happier or sadder either by today, or on the winter solstice. i stay indoors on those days, and when u are indoors you dont really notice the daylight or lack of it . why do i stay indoors so much? because when it is this time of year, there is a lot of pollen in the air and i get sneezing when i am outdoors , especially in the late evening… so i stay indoors to get out of it. and when it is winter, it is dark outside and so i stay indoors. so either way, i remain indoors. i know i miss out on the bright sunshine during the summer nights, but i dont mind. i am not a great fan of the sun, and dont mind if i stay out of it, rather than sunbathe and get burnt.

perhaps it explains why i dont get this ailment called SAD, (seasonal affected disorder, i think it is called)where people get moody when they dont see the sun. i wonder what they call the opposite condition, where u get depressed from seeing too much sun. i have a suspicion there are a lot of sufferers of that in the tropics. but no one wants to say so, for fear of being ridiculed. perhaps it is not so much the sunlight, but the heat, that gets them down.

modern houses dont cope with a lot of sun, they have too many windows with glass, that concentrate the sun’s heat inside the house. i recall those old bungalows i grew up in, with very high ceilings and shutters in their windows, and wide verandahs, which allow air in but not the sun. they are very cool houses but those houses are a rarity now. i think they have all gone. and everyone have to rely on airconditioning now to cool the house.