In honor of Winter Solstice today.  Life only gets brighter from here!

I have realized that that I am truly an adapted Alaskan.  While sunlight affects me artificial light is at least as important to me, if not more so, because I expect more of it.

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When I was in Bermuda I watched the light fade each evening, marveling at the unusual experience of warm darkness.  I was in an alternate reality that didn’t feel much different from exploring under the ocean.

I walked along the beach without my flashlight.  I had the way-cool experience of swimming after dark with only the pool lights from under the water to illuminate things.

And, btw, chlorinated saltwater is just about the worst thing I’ve ever tasted.

I was not the least bit fazed or unnerved by the darkness outside.  What disturbed me was returning to my hotel room, and feeling I was in a perpetual twilight.

Attempting to work late one night I tried turning on both lamps beside my work table.  Their light barely escaped the lampshades and did little for my keyboard.  I could hardly stand it; a feeling like claustrophobia fingered its way up my back.

And it was this way every night.

Add discovering bedbugs to that experience

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Jay has more than once said, “I wonder what I’d be doing if I lived 1,000 years ago…”  And I feel the same way.  I could still be a mother and a storyteller, but I wonder if I’d be as stable as I am now with the (God-be-Praised) blessing of artificial light.

When we moved into our home six years ago, the kitchen was the only room we felt was sufficiently lit: two fixtures with two florescent tubes each.  Jay added another pair in the living room and replaced the 60-watt incandescents in the bedrooms and hallway with much brighter florescent bulbs.

Jay’s ideal alarm is a slider increasing the light.  My ideal morning is lit by both the kitchen and joining living room.  Darkness– a light simply left off and the drapes closed– was enough to keep any of my babies out of a room, no gate required.  We are a family of light lovers. Praise God he provided for us to live in this age.  With all its confusions we know he has equipped us for it, and the simple comfort of light is a reminder of His provision.

I am thankful beyond words for all the kinds of  light God provides, and today I rejoice at the turning of this corner and the returning of the sun.

Happy Solstice everyone!