When Day is Like Night

After we roll back the clocks to standard time Germany hits dark thirty well before anything I experienced in the United States. In early November it's getting dark by 4:45pm and by 5:30pm we've hit pitch. Come December it gets worse and come shortly after 4pm we've got complete dark. It was December when I first moved to Germany and if my homesickness depression wasn't enough to do me in, on top of it was the absolute funk I was put in at having to turn on lamps when mid-afternoon rolled around. Add to that the fact that in November and December Germany isn't famous for its sunny, clear blue skies during the short daylight hours and it's no wonder that late fall/early winter in Germany feels like a siege.

But December has something November can't boast - Christmas lights. A day in November goes like this: dark followed by overcast followed by dark. December is dark followed by overcast followed by faint dots of lights followed by dark followed by a bright, sparkly, cheerful, Chrismassy world. By the time mid-December arrives you're so grateful to see something else besides the absence of light that you welcome any array of lighted Christmas tackiness.

Who knew that neon Santas, glowing Holy Families, sparkling reindeer and row after row of plastic candle pyramids could be a cure for Seasonal Affective Disorder?