on sunlight
These are things I know about myself as it relates to weather:
- Being cold makes me sad
- Anything under 12C is too cold for me
- 24C is the temperature at which I am most stable
This last 10 days or so I exchanged winter in Lisbon for summer in South Africa. I've been back to South Africa a bunch since leaving in 2003. But this is the first time that my mind was in the headspace of really thinking deeply about where to live (as I've talked about in this journal before).
My conclusion is this: winter should be avoided at all costs. Not for temperature reasons (provided winter where you are is above 12C) but for sunlight reasons. The part that I've enjoyed most about being in South Africa is the long days, which, instead of a gradual lengthening, came all at once at the other end of a flight.
The sun sets at 8 here. And it's bright out until around 9. Thats 4 hours more sunlight than in Lisbon right now. It's a whole day of extra sunlight every week. There's more life to live in the summer. And I'm starting to think that living is pretty much the point.