We are gaining daylight, I think, finally.

You’d think after all these years that I would be a little more accustomed to the lack of winter daylight, but I'm not. The short daylight of winter gets to me. It may actually have to do with that seasonal lack of light thing. The one where it can be pretty dark at 4 o’clock on a heavy overcast day. I become a slug.

But, while doing dishes the other evening, through west facing windows overlooking the Sheepscot River, at 5:15 p.m., I could see something. The sun had set, but there was still plenty of light in the sky making a few colorful reflections on dishes in the drying rack.

I got a wee boost. Not “Iron Man” surge of energy but just a touch of revived hope. At least I wasn’t heading upstairs to preheat the bed!

My internet research, for what it’s worth, informs me that, at this time of year, we gain in the vicinity of two minutes of daylight per day. I’m not sure which end of the day gets the additional light, but even if a 50-50 split, half in the morning and half in the evening, we're talking almost an hour's worth of extra light by month’s end. That means that my clean and drying dishes will have reflections at six o’clock, at which time I will turn on the happy light and boost my earnings til almost 7 p.m. But that won’t be until the end of the month. However, I know it’s coming. Our solar walkway lights will provide illumination without need for CMP-financed booster fake daylight.

The sun is getting stronger, if not rapidly extending our day. This I can tell from the swelling buds on the swamp maples. There are some very porky little guys showing up a bit prematurely along our driveway where sunlight (when we have it) lasts longest.. I'm not sure how much they are appreciating the varied crunch of sub-freezing temps though. Too early to shed your winter coats boys and girls.