It’s only October 20th and we’re starting to see the days getting noticeably shorter and darker. By the third week in December the sun rises at about 10:00 and sets about 16:30 making for a very short day when the sun is out.
We were told, even before we arrived here in Москва, that Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002499/) can be a real problem if you’re used to a more balanced ratio of sunlight to darkness. People in Fairbanks, Alaska are used to this but we in the lower 48 don’t seem to handle it as well (see Footnote). So, some people can get rather depressed and otherwise disrupted by not getting enough sunlight.
In a recent edition of the US Embassy newsletter readers were warned that SAD is real and lack of sunlight effects people in different and sometimes consequential ways.
I wouldn’t say that I’m looking forward to short periods of sunlight but I’m sure it will be an interesting experience…I’ll get back to you later.
До следующего раза ...
Борис
Footnote:
Latitude: 56 0 45' N Moscow, Russia
Latitude: 640 82' N Fairbanks, Alaska
Latitude: 40 0 65' N New York City
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