Equator-Hater

Being born and raised in the same place, I never gave much thought to my location in relation to the equator and what impact it had on my life, as it was fairly close to the equator and the changing seasons had little effect on the length of days.

But now that I've moved quite some distance away I find that it has a significant impact on my day-to-day life. Here in Portland in the winter, the sun comes up at around 7:30 am and it starts getting dark somewhere around 3:45 in the afternoon, with an official sunset of 4:30 pm. I've only been here a few weeks, but as I understand it, it should get more severe as we move further into the winter.

Back in Louisiana I always loved this time of year because all it really meant was gaining an hour of sleep every night when the clocks rolled back. My body preferred the wintertime hours over the spring and summer hours. When daylight savings time began every spring, I hated it. I dreaded that lost hour. When I was still in school, spring semesters were the worst; the absolute pits. I overslept just about everyday for class, and often times showed up late for work. OK, most times I showed up late for work.

I find it odd that something so significant, so prevelant, was previously all but unknown to me. I like the fact that I have the opportunity to learn about differences like this. I think that this relocation will be beneficial and character building, and I'm glad we did it.