It Isn't SAD Here

 

November in Washington had a definite dreary feel to it. In Olympia, November is the rainiest month and the beginning of the rainiest season. It also gets colder, of course. But most importantly, it gets dark. The days get really short in Washington, and the time change makes it seem worse. But beyond that, it's dark even during the day, as it is very common to have clouds all across the sky for days at a time, so that the sun never even peeks through.

According to the Internet, average rainfall in November in Olympia is almost 10 inches. In Western Washington, that much rain means that it's cloudy and rainy, then just cloudy, then cloudy and rainy again, then it's night. It's a bit depressing. The winter weather affects some people enough that they have a name for it: Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD. I was never affected at anywhere near a level that would be diagnosed as SAD, but let's just say that I always liked it when we got to February, and the weather got warmer, and the days got longer.

Several people I knew in Washington only lived there part of the year and bailed out during the winter, spending a few months in places like Palm Springs or Arizona.

New Mexico is a little different. This is the type of place someone from Washington might want to stay from November to February. Here, November is the start of the dry season. Although all 12 months could be called the dry season, November is the first of eight straight months with average rainfall of less than one inch. (The other four months get less than two inches each.) The Internet says that today was only 15 minutes longer here than it was in Olympia, but by December 21, the difference will be an hour and 15 minutes. (That seems like a lot of change in a short period of time, but hey, it's the Internet - must be right.) It's warmer here too, with daily high temperatures around 70 degrees this week. But the biggest difference is that it is not overcast here. I took the picture above the other day at Cabezon Park, near my house, just to illustrate what it looks like nearly all the time. It's sunshine and little white clouds day after day after day. Nothing to be SAD about.

Next Friday, we will head back to Washington for a medical appointment for Jackie. She had a kidney stone, and they installed what amounts to a temporary fix back in September, but the stone is still there. She flew back today for a pre-procedure appointment and is flying home tomorrow. When we drive back next week, it will be for another procedure to break up the stone. Then will have Thanksgiving with the boys, then drive to San Francisco for a week for a national bridge tournament, then back to Washington for a final procedure to remove a stent (the temporary fix.) In all, it will be 23 days of travelling, and it will feel good to get that done. Since September, Jackie has had some discomfort with the stent in, so hopefully we can get back home, she will feel better, and we can begin to travel around our new state.