Voodoo Time Dot Com

I just realized something today that makes me sad around this time every year. It’s almost summer.

Now you’re probably thinking, “What on Earth is wrong with that?” Well I don’t blame you. Summer is full of a ton of cool memories from childhood. No school, getting to play outside later, no school, ice cream, running through the sprinklers, melting crayons, no school…

All of that stuff is great – except for the ‘no school’ thing, which no longer holds any meaning for me. But even in light of all these cool aspects of the season, I still have never enjoyed summer time. Physically, I just can’t handle it. The entire warm-weather season (which is a fairly long block of time here in Sunny Southern California ™) makes me physically uncomfortable for a couple of reasons.

1. It’s really hot. I am a very white man of almost exclusively northern and eastern European ancestry. I come from a rich heritage of pasty pale people who lived in places that were rather cold and wet. Consequentially, my body makes plenty of its own heat. I often find myself feeling rather warm, even when others around me are cold. When it’s warm outside I get a double-whammy. It makes me sweat a lot and feel gross.

2. It’s really bright. This is a crappy condition for me for two reasons – the first of which I have already addressed. I am rather pale complected. This means I burn. Oh brother, do I burn. Sunburns are uncomfortable and dangerous. Secondly, I have very sensitive eyes. So when it gets bright, I can either walk around with sunglasses all the time (which I will either lose or break), or I walk around all squinty-eyed, which tends to make my face hurt.

There is a condition known as Seasonal Affective Disorder that tends to afflict some people in the winter months. Apparently these people’s levels of hormones called serotonin and melatonin are altered in a way that makes them feel sleepy and depressed. I believe I have Reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder, which no one else seems to have but me.

Here’s something funny I remember from my childhood. I went to Christian elementary schools as a kid. Once, during a Bible-study class, our teacher began describing Heaven and what we could expect to see there as good little girls and boys. She described it as being very very bright and shiny. It’s always bright and warm there, and there is no more nighttime or darkness.

I was so disappointed.

Bye for now.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 5th, 2002 at 5:22 pm and is filed under Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.