darkness

I wanted to say a few words to you about the darkness in Finland, that is, the fact that the days in Finland are pretty overcast and dark this time of year.  I do this so you'll understand my lack of writting on most days lately.  For those who know me, I am pretty open about the fact that I suffer from moderate to severe depression.  I am medicated for it, and am balanced most of the time.  There was some concern coming to Finland that the darkness might play a role in affecting my depression as my doctor's have felt that I am also affected by Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)....which is to say that a lack of sunlight can cause depression.  That being said, hav have noticed a marked increase in depression the last few weeks, which I attribute to the darker days.  Thus, I do little else than the bare minimum, and my blog suffers...my apologies to you all.

Now, let me explain what I mean by darkness, because coming here I expected it to be like night most of the day.  It is not.  Rather, it is like an overcast dusk sort of darkness....there is little to no sun visable,and it does get night time-dark much earlier.

The bonus to this darkness is the fact that at this time of year the merchants have all their Christmas lights up and the city has lights strung accross the streets so that you can enjoy the festive atmosphere for the better portion of the day.  It's kind of neat, actually.  We don't have snow yet (unusual, but a good thing I think) but the atmosphere is decidedly Christmas/Holiday, and that is a bonus that I am really enjoying.

The moral of this blog entry, in case you were wondering, is that I am doing my best to keep up the entries, so please be patient.  I will make it worth your while in the long run.