The Longest Night of the Year

It was dark when I woke up this morning, and thanks to the heavy cloud cover, it will likely be dark again around 4:00pm. Today is the Winter Solstice; the shortest day of the year, as well as the longest night.

When I was a little kid, I used to think it was really cool to live in a place where it was dark all the time, just like I would — six months down the road — think that it was really cool to live in a place where it was still ”almost daylight” at midnight on clear days during the latter half of June.

Perhaps because I was born into those conditions, it has never really bothered me as an adult — it just feels natural, in some way. During the years when I lived way down south and the length of night and day didn’t vary all that much… that was actually what felt unnatural to me.

To be honest, the only thing I don’t like about these cold dark days is the size of our heating bill!

Of course, lots of folks — even those who were born here — find the darkness of winter to be depressing.

I have long speculated that part of that may simply be due to the fact that they have few — if any — indoor interests or hobbies; something that was never a problem for me.

In the days before we had Internet, I was always reading a book, or working on my stamp collection, or writing something in one of my many journals. In more recent years, I have added blogging and art to the list, and I am quite content. I have often joked with Mrs. Denmarkguy — who is of a very similar persuasion and mindset — that we would be perfectly content being snowed in for a couple of months, as long as we had food and electricity.

But such is the way of the Introvert.

A lot of people make New Years resolutions, something I have never much gotten into. However, this is the time of the year when I often reflect on the year that was and consider what might be done differently in the year to come.

I try not to make too many ”big plans” because history has taught me that the Universe has a tendency to throw us all curveballs when we least expect it.

If there is a broad observation that could be applied to 2024, it would be that it seems like every year — starting with Covid and that chaotic 2020 — we inch a little closer to ”living in pure survival mode.”

We were really headed in a decent direction and doing OK through 2019, and I had a pretty positive outlook for the possibilities of what lay ahead. Now I look at our 5th consecutive downtrending year in contrast to the cost of living spiraling more or less out of control and must concede that our family has quite emphatically slid out of the ever shrinking ”Middle class” and we’re pretty entrenched in the lower echelons, with little prospect for emerging from there.

Which, in a sense, makes this ”night” feel a little longer and darker than it might otherwise have felt.

Of course, it is often said that the survivors of life are those with the best ability to pivot. The question now becomes one of where to pivot to, in a world where the goods and services we offer are typically used by people in the same boat as ourselves — who can’t afford those goods and services, themselves.

"Nice stuff, love it, but I just don't have any money" doesn't put food on the table.

It does create a sort of cascading dilemma — financially speaking — in which an ever-growing number are trying to sell their ”wares” to an ever narrowing group at the top of the wealth pyramid. Those folks are human, too… and they only need so many things!

In some ways, the USA looks more and more like it is heading towards another version of ”The Gilded Age” of the 1890s, marked by extraordinary wealth among a few, and the remainder living a hardscrabble subsistence life.

I try to stay philosophical about it and simply say ”it is what it is” while hoping we can plot some kind of path forward that will afford us something better than ”cat food spaghetti” on our old age.

OK, so that's a bit overdramatic, but you get my general gist.

Sometimes it can be a challenge to stay optimistic when it seems like virtually everything around you is in decline. But we shall endeavor to keep our spirits up, whether it's making that next sale or hoping Hive can go somewhere other than the basement of crypto.

In the meantime, Happy Solstice everyone, and thanks for coming to visit!

Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation! I do my best to answer comments, even if it sometimes takes a few days!

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Created at 2024.12.21 16:27 PST
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