Time tables and otherwise.

I still have to get used to sunsets at 8. 30 PM. Well, I have to undo the circadian clock of a lifetime, so its not a surprise that my mind refuses to believe yet,that the sun can actually hang around past 7 PM. It is a crazy process. Doesn't even turn twilight, really. 8 30 PM - light. 8 45 PM- Dark. I tend to have this lazy nonchalance that its still evening, till I look at the clock. Then its a frantic rush. Crazy is the word.

Be that as it may, its a whole lot better than darkness at 4 30 PM, which happens in January. Universal depression is not even an exaggeration.

Even as the temperatures and light schedules swing madly,its amusing to see how every season demands specific activities.
Early winter- shop like a crazed animal for gifts.
Late winter- Go skiing or get depressed and ponder on the futility of life.
Spring-Pretend like its summer and sun-bathe on every day the sun comes out. Garden till you drop.
Early summer- Complain about the heat, put on sunscreen in cartloads.
Late summer- Realize that summer is slipping away.Start grilling everything in sight.
Early fall- Sigh about the summer thats gone. Start obsessing about pumpkins.
Late fall- Start planning for Christmas.

And so it goes... year after year.

A major thing I have had to learn is to have a schedule planned for everyday, maybe months in advance. I used to wonder vaguely why people needed activity planners. I mean, I knew those things existed, but I thought only big shots would have a need of a schedule for everyday. You know, Presidents of nations or software companies. Not ordinary mortals like me. Its surprisingly difficult to do. Put each thing as it comes up on your calendar. Check your calendar and commit to that activity at that time. Whatever happened to creative freedom? Well, that has to have a time too. But now I definitely know I am not a teenager anymore. The state of denial has passed and I realize my memory is as fallible as the next person's, so I better put things on my schedule. Responsible attitude, or foretaste of old age? I'll find out.

Planning fun, I have realized, can enhance it. Road trips, for example. Whats more fun, to have an exact idea of the best places one can visit, fun places to eat and have a schedule for all that, or randomly drive, eat at some random place and realize that a five minutes' drive further could have taken you to a restaurant of your dreams? 'Down to the last detail' does not sound so bad anymore. Thats mid twenties talking, for you. Or the beginnings of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Again, I'll find out.

The opposite end of the spectrum, strangely, is a fun place to be also.As things stand now, major changes are going to happen in the next few months, professionally. I don't know what city I will end up in, what sort of a job I will have, what friends I will make. So there are some things that have no schedule. Its like the feeling just before one turns the corner of a blind curve. Tantalizing.Mid twenties rock.