As The Days Grow Longer

Friday, February 12, 2010
In the middle of February there’s a sudden “ah-ha” moment when it becomes apparent that the days have gradually grown longer. While driving to work on Wednesday for a 6 o’clock start, I realized although the sky held the dark blue glow following sunset, I didn’t need my brights on. This morning, sunlight peeped over the lake’s far shore as the alarm buzzed. And yesterday it crossed my mind that from this point forward, the number of times I’ll have to use my car’s block heater should be relatively few. Winter is far from gone but the deep, dark part is all but behind us. Even my mother, who holds a vindictive dislike for winter admitted, “This winter really hasn’t been so bad.”

Truthfully we’re not so very far off from the Vernal Equinox on March 20. On Tuesday, I had a discussion at work with a regular at the bar over what determined Easter’s date each year. I stated, somewhat erroneously, that “Easter is always the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox.” (That’s the basic gist of Easter’s date, but it’s a little more complicated in a way I don’t quite understand about the “Paschal Moon.”) March’s full moon occurs on March 30, placing Easter on April 4 this year which in turn means starting Sunday we’re on a domino roll of holidays: Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, Mardi Gras, and Ash Wednesday. Lent already . . . and I have absolutely no desire to give up anything! ;)

The amount of sunlight we receive in a 24-hour period may be increasing, but unfortunately that doesn’t correlate with an actual increase in days’ length. A shame, since I’m reverting back to my college ways and seem to be taking on an ever increasing workload. Yesterday I had to head to town for an interview and ended up multitasking by having a couple meetings as well. (I got to use my handy mileage chart in Bylines to document this tax-deductible trip.) I came home yesterday afternoon with three more story assignments and a reminder to get going on the radio commentary I’ll be contributing, probably on a monthly basis, to the local radio station. Then this morning, our neighbor called to ask for some help with an article he’s been asked to work on.

Doubt demons? What doubt demons?

All of this goes to say, I need to determine the best way to guarantee everything gets done in a timely fashion. Turning the interview I did yesterday into an article needs to be my first priority since that’s my looming deadline. Beyond that, there’s nothing that’s desperately urgent, but I can’t let any of the balls drop and I certainly can’t forget to stay on top of the novel rewrites and querying.

My all-in-one printer showed up at my parents’ house about ten minutes after I left there yesterday. I’m anxious to retrieve it, but am actually too busy to justify the trip to town. The retrieval alone would take at least two hours and once I got it back to the Shack, I’d have to set it up (despite the fact that my portfolio is up to date and I have nothing to scan) which would lead to rearranging my office, which would lead to me flirting dangerously with my deadline. Ah well.

I’m off to write an article. And a sidebar. And then an outline. Good Lord, could it be that Ada is spending the day working as a freelance writer? You know, the occupation she went to college for?! Someone told me this week that you have until you’re 35 to decide on a career. But I settled on a career when I was 18 and as plodding and as unconventional as it may be, I’m sticking with it because in the end, it doesn’t seem like I have much choice in the matter.

2 comments:

  1. Amen on that last part, Ada! Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing what I'm doing because I want to do it or because I decided on it a long time ago and just can't stop...Either way I seem to be enjoying it so I might as well keep going right?

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  2. I think we do what we do because it is something so deeply ingrained in our consciousness and being that it would be futile to try to actually pinpoint where the initial desire came from. And I am confident that many people squash the innate desires that we follow because they fear those desires aren't "practical." I think in the long run, we'll be happier (if not wealthier). Here's to chortling at everyone else when we're 60 and still getting together for the annual crafting retreat. :)

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