A refinement this year is the re-arrangement of the living room furniture. I had to use the electric light approach for several days before I thought of it.... But one day, sitting in front of that in my recliner, I was looking at the pretty sun pattern on the wall across from me. And I remembered years ago, when we first moved into this house, the time when I first started playing my autoharp.

Those days, the furniture was arranged in a different way. I had my autoharp stand, then, in the very spot where I was now seeing the sun moving across the wall and the furniture in front of it. Now, I understood why I had so loved playing every morning! I didn't realize it then, but that had been the only spot in the house to catch full sun for an hour every morning. And yes.... it had been winter time when I took up the habit. For me, soaking up the full, rich autoharp sound I get by playing it tabletop, tilted up to me, came along with soaking up badly-needed sunlight. These two memories are tied together in my brain's synapses.

Needless to say I have now gotten the furniture moved so that I can once again sit in that spot. It has organized my whole day-- the sun splash there is brief, and I have to be there on time. I make sure to dish up the oatmeal from the crockpot, change into my un-tinted glasses, and get comfy to start the day listening to old radio shows the computer is kind enough to play for me. Faulkner curls up next to me in his own sunpool, on the floor. Even on a cloudy day, it is bright enough for that hour to get a good handle on starting the day. I consider it preventive maintenance.

This week's sitting time has gone to crocheting myself a colorful, warm neck scarf.

I've moved the electric faux sunligh onto the computer stand, beside the monitor and closer to my face, and I have changed my computer hour to later in the day, around sunset. This adds another hour or so of full-spectrum light to my day, at the very time of day I would more commonly get the dark-too-early heebie-jeebies.

Oddly enough, the hours between these two daily appointments I make with myself are going better than they were before! :~)

Thanks are due to Hardi for the electrics, the help moving furniture, and the willingness to have a winter room arrangement that looks like the sitting room at a run-down old-folks home.

~Susan