Not five minues after I sat here writing about a dark and dreary Seattle day, and how I was Florida dreaming, the sun came out. True, it was chilly and windy, but sunny. It streamed through the window of my office and felt so good on my face.

But speaking of the sun, it is interesting how controversial sunlight has become. There is so much media hype about the dangers of the sun, that some people are literally afraid to spend any time at all outside. A few years ago, when I was working on a story about having a healthy pregnancy, my editor was horrified when I suggested getting out into natural daylight for about 15 minutes without sunscreen. This is so that the sun can penetrate through the skin, and generate the production of vitamin D. With sunscreen on, the process doesn’t happen.

People used to be outdoors far more than we are now, and the rates of skin cancer were lower than they are now. So there is a median somewhere, a truth which lies between sun worshippers and cave dwellers.

True, sunlight can trigger free radical activity and the amount of free radicals does increase with the intensity of the sunshine. Free radicals can cause skin to age prematurely, wrinkle, and sunburn, and can damage DNA and cause skin lesions. But spending one’s life under flourescent lighting isn’t a good idea either. Sunlight makes you feel good, it makes me feel good. It wasn’t all that long ago when some children’s hospitals were designed to allow as much natural light in as possible, because doctors and nurses noticed how it helped accelerate the healing process. Sunlight was used with adult patients as well. These days, patients are lucky if they even get a window in their room.

There’s been published data which shows a strong relationship between distance from the sun and death rates of colon and breast cancers. In those countries farther away from the equator, the higher the death rate; in those closer to the sun, the lower the rate. In European countries such as the UK, Netherlands, Germany and Austria, colon death rates, per 100,000 people, published in 1999, are about 16; in Spain, Greece, Chile, Florida, Mexico and Hawaii, they are between 5.5 and 8.5. Of course, there are other factors to be considered, but still, it is interesting. Is it because the climate is nicer, that these people spend more time out of doors? That their winters are not so dark and cold, and that they have more sunlight year round? And that sunlight really does aid in healing, and that it’s not just an old wives tale?

Anyway, I do love dark and rainy days. They keep me indoors, so I can get work done. But I’ve noticed now, after living in Seattle for four years, that long stretches of gray days do begin to get to me. I got tired of it being sunny so much when I lived in LA. Now I think I’m California dreaming again…

These past few days, actually, since I’ve been home from Florida, I wake up in the morning thinking, “Is it morning? Is it daylight? Then why hasn’t the sun come up?”

The sun has risen, although you’d almost never know it. Those dark and dreary winter days are here already. The kind of days when you’re sure the end is near, that the Apocalypse is here, and the earth will end within the next five minutes.

In Florida, I was up and wide awake about 6ish every morning, but here, back in Seattle, I can barely open my eyes before 8. I feel so groggy, so lethargic, like a sloth hanging upside down from a tree branch. It could be that it was already light in Florida and the air was warm, making it more conducive to getting up. Here, I just want to pull the comforter up over my face, and turn over.

Today is windy, chilly, with very black clouds hovering over my house. A bit of sun is trying to peak through, although it isn’t very successful. Seattle has a reputation for being rainy, but in reality, cities like New York and Boston get more rainful per annum that Seattle. While there is an occasional downpour, the rainfall in Seattle tends to be more of a drizzle, a mist, and gives the impression that a lot of it is coming down. The long gray winters give the illusion of a lot of rain, even if the ground is dry.

When I first moved up here, I looked around the city in disbelief. It was mid-September, and everything seemed rather dry and crunchy. Brown and parched, thirsty land begging for a drink of water. Where is the Emerald City that everyone talks about, I wondered. Where were the mountains? I know I had seen them from the air, circling the city. Even sinister Mt. Rainier was hidden from view. The air was still, hot, dry, and hazy.

I thought I was still in California.

Then the rains arrived. The haze cleared and the mountains returned, the earth turned green, but that heavy winter darkness was like nothing I had ever seen before. Even New York winters weren’t like this. It certainly wasn’t as cold as New York, but is sure was a lot darker.

Now I’m looking out the window, trying to get motivated to start working, get dressed, and maybe go outside. I’m Florida dreaming, of warm air and bright sun. Maybe it is time to move back to a warmer climate. Then again, I’ve been thinking a lot about moving to Montreal…