Bring out the sun

It's January now for five days and it's a mixed sun and clouds day in the Northeast. Like so many New Englanders, I long for longer days and sunnier skies, but here we are. According to the Boston Globe weather site, we have only nine days of full sun in January, on average and almost four inches of rain. No wonder a few of us get cranky and take it out in road rage (Boston is in the top five cities for RR--Miami is first, then NYC, then Boston and then LA, and finally DC).

My dear friend SuEllen recommends full spectrum light bulbs and they do work better, but there's nothing like a walk in fresh air and sunshine to lift the spirit.

What's the spiritual equivalent of sunshine to lift the spirit? Simple meditation, for five minutes a day can't hurt. A calm inner life starting at the early part of the day is a good shield against the emotions that fighting cold and grey skies inspire. I frankly find meditation extremely hard, but I can do anything for five minutes a day. It's actually enough to set a calmer tone in motion.

So it's 4 PM on the first January Saturday in Boston and the cloud cover is in full resplendence. I like to write in this kind of weather. The grey area is where all things converge, where we can avoid extremes and find nuance. That's good for the soul, so with that I welcome one of the 22 days of clouds for a typical Boston January.