The long dark nights

#

They are both not as bad as expected, and just as bad as you might suspect. The lack of sun was not as drastic as I thought. You end up getting about five hours of light (10:30am to ~4:30pm) with two of those hours being like twilight, and the remaining ones like mid morning.

Thankfully I do not have anywhere in particular I need to be, so I am able to leave the house when visibility is better for chores or activities. But since there are so few hours of light in the day, it ends up feeling like the day ends after a single activity.

The result is you end up moving around a lot less, doing a lot less, and feeling like a bird being put to bed early once the sun sets.

I have noticed a lot of Icelanders try not to let anything stop them, since if you wait for the perfect conditions, you will probably miss 90% of the year haha. I have seen folks with headlamps going for jogs in horrible black ice conditions in the dark. They looked like a newborn deer on shaky legs, but they still ran.

But if you can work up the motivation, this time of year is perfect for reflection, reading, growing. It feels like early mornings or late nights, where you can do an indoor solo activity without being disturbed since everyone else is asleep.

So it is a bit of a mixed bag. Not as drastic as it may have sounded at first, but still a serious consideration. If I had to do a typical work day where I would start in darkness and end my shift in darkness, it would be significantly worse. But if you do not have those obligations and enjoy quite hours, it is not too terrible, and you eventually get rewarded with longer days.

Just do not forget your vitamin D!