New Years’ Bonus

This morning’s 6.20 am weather report announced that we would have 8 hours and 59 minutes of daylight today. That’s one more minute than we were granted yesterday. This is the kind of trend I can appreciate.

But what will I do with my bonus? One minute isn’t a lot. I really should save it, along with the new minutes coming daily from now until late June, and then splurge next November and make it sunny all night long for a few nights when things seem their deepest, darkest, and loneliest.

I’m not really great at saving, though. Besides, these extra minutes are highly perishable. Even if I try to save them, they’ll be moldy and dark by the time I go to retrieve them in a few months.

Best to use my minute while it’s fresh, I suppose. The question is — how? I know I shouldn’t just squander it while I browse the Internet. I could take an extra minute while doing barn chores to admire the view. I could sit by the window, on the sunny side of the house, and let the light bathe me while I take an extra minute to drink my tea. I could stare out the window at dusk and watch as the light fades, just so I can catch those extra 60 seconds fizzling on the horizon (oh, if only we could see sunsets from our eastern-exposure house). I could use that extra sip of sunshine to increase my dwindling vitamin D levels.

I could write about my minute here. And make it last.