Yellowknife (Dec 22/00) - Today is less than one minute longer than yesterday, but it's the first time a day has been longer than the one before it in six months.
The winter solstice came and went yesterday, and with it we started heading out of winter instead of into it.
Until the June 21 summer solstice, our world will get progressively brighter. Just knowing that we've turned the corner is heart-warming, said David Rochette, now in his second winter in Yellowknife.
"You don't see the difference right away, but at least you know the days are getting longer," Rochette said.
He admitted the weight of the world sits a little heavier on his shoulders during the dark months, but he believes it is important to maintain a positive attitude.
"It's hard to wake up in the morning, but I know I have to wake up, so I do," said Rochette.
Evelyn Serre de St. Jean of Sundance Health has the perfect solutions to get you down the home stretch to daylight.
"We have a Happy Light for all the SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) people," said Serre de St. Jean.
It may already be too late to get a Happy Light. Sundance sold six of them last week and had only one left Wednesday.
Failing the Happy Light, you could pop a few St. John's Vort pills, a pick-me-up herb for seasonal depressives.
If darkness is really getting you down, try the Happy Light, a couple of St. John's Vort and a dose of greens, which come in a powdered form. One dose of greens powder -- which you mix with water or apple juice -- provides the equivalent of six servings of real greens.
If that doesn't get you out of the dumps, there's always the credit card-bruising southern vacation.
Jonathan Davidson said the darkness of winter -- and, for that matter, the long days of summer -- sometimes throw his timing off completely.
"I don't what time it is -- I wake up and I don't know if it's five o'clock or 10 o'clock," said Davidson.
"I'm going to bed later -- when it's nine I think it's seven."
The upside to the dark cold winter is it provides yet another story about the strange and wonderful North to tell the folks and friends in the south. Davidson said his friends get a chuckle when he calls them after being at work for an hour-and-a-half (using his NorthwesTel calling card, of course) and tells them it's still dark.
