Living In The Dark

~ beetleypete

I didn’t get up until 8:30 this morning. I thought it was much earlier, as it was still dark.

When I went into the kitchen to let Ollie out, I had to switch on the lights. Then I went into the living room and opened the curtains, only to discover that it was as dark as early evening outside. I checked the clock on the microwave as my kettle boiled for coffee. Definitely morning.

Once the computer had fired up, the clock at the bottom of the screen confirmed it was really almost 9 am, not pm.

It is now 11:48, and still more or less dark. It will officially be dark just after 4 pm today.

But I will hardly notice any difference.

On the plus side, it isn’t raining!

75 thoughts on “Living In The Dark”

  2. I find the dark so much harder than the cold. Although I have been in the UK for 15 years it’s the one thing I find so hard to adjust to. In South Africa there aren’t such vast difference in light hours between summer and winter especially in Johannesburg because it is so much closer to the equator.

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    1. It must be difficult to adjust from a place that had so much better weather, Abbi.
      It didn’t used to be like this here when I was young. The seasons were more sharply defined, with much colder winters and hot summers. Even in my lifetime, I have noticed the changes.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. Believe it or not, the hours of daylight start to increase soon after the winter solstice, December 21st. Then the daylight decreases after the summer solstice, June 21st.
        And I, too, have noticed a decrease in the difference between the seasons. We’ve not had snow here for a number of years, now. And even frost is a rarety. But so much more rain!

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        1. Thanks, VM. We have had more rain than I can ever remember. As for the darkness, I suspect that is caused by low and dense cloud cover over the region. It is strangely dull again today, and still raining!
          Best wishes, Pete.

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    1. Thankfully, we haven’t had any snow here. (Yet)
      It may look nice, but it makes travelling around a nightmare.
      It was just very strange how dark the day was. But it had been completely dark since just after 4.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  13. Even if it’s only a psychological difference for a couple of weeks, I still feel better after the solstice, knowing that we’re ‘on the up’ 🙂 I really struggle to get up on these dark mornings, and only put lights on if it’s absolutely necessary. Cheers, Jon.

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    1. That could have happened if I hadn’t gone to bed quite early last night, Smita. 🙂
      Than again, I have to think of my dog. He needs to be let out, and hopefully before 9 am.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  21. It’s just after 2pm here and we have had the lights on all day. 31st December was a glorious day here – fabulous after the weeks of gloom with frost and blue skies and sunshine and it stayed light for much longer. Only one day but it gave me hope – longer days are on the way, even if we can’t quite believe it.

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    1. Thanks, Simon. I read about that in December, and it made me feel better to know it was not my imagination! I suppose the 11:48 darkness must be due to the very low cloud cover here.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  27. I too was struck by how dark it was this morning (I’m in Leicestershire, a little further West, and I’m trying to work out if that makes it darker here than in Norfolk. I guess it does in the morning as you’re further East, not that it probably makes a lot of difference.) I thought the days were supposed to be getting longer now? They seem to be getting shorter

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