The Long Slide into Numbing Darkness Begins

Sigh. The summer solstice has passed and now the only thing ahead of us is the long slide into numbing darkness.

We were so full of hope last week. The days were getting longer and more and more sunlight flooded this beautiful world. Now that’s all gone. This morning it was a little harder to wake up than it was last week, with the chirps of the birds coming just a little later. Tonight the sun sets at a disappointing 8:33 p.m., giving us a scant 15 hours of daylight.

We’re still having our pool painted and are waiting to fill and open it. But why bother? We’re just going to have less and less time in it before the exhausted sun sinks to the ground. I might as well just start buying Halloween candy now. Soon I’ll put up the Christmas tree and just wait for the snows to start swirling and mercifully bury me in my misery.

It will not be too long before we will smell leaves burning and feel a chill wind destroy the flowers we so carefully planted. It will not be too long before we will walk to and from the office in stubborn darkness.

God, what’s the point?