Marloff’s

Hey folks,

I’m feeling a little nondescript today, and I don’t know why. Yesterday was the first day this Spring that the Sun shone and wasn’t cold. I’m beginning to become a believer in SAD lamps, or at least in the effect sunlight can have on you. Doctors estimate that over 20% of the population here suffer from the symptoms of seasonal affective disorder.  It was still only about 6° Celsius (that’s what, 43° in Fahrenheit?) but the Sun felt good and warm. It’s a difficult thing to explain to those who live in the warmer climes, who are used to constant daylight.

I was walking back from the grocery store, having a total disconnection from reality with Sennheiser earbuds blocking out every external sound and my Pregos tinting everything in sepia, when the light hit me with full force and I just had to stop in my tracks. I closed my eyes and just soaked it all in, and I felt this strange sense of belonging. I turned off my Ipod and listened. Underneath the sound of traffic was the sound of Spring. The sound of melting snow, water dripping from the eaves, water rushing down the gutters. It is the sound of things coming alive, and it beats any song ever written. I even smiled a little bit. Ok, I smiled a lot.

It really was the first day of Spring, which my friends and I usually celebrate by playing Suburban Tribe’s First Spring Day on repeat. Yes, we have silly traditions like that.

I was hoping that today would be a repeat of yesterday, but no. Today feels like everything is on hold, waiting for the big event. Outside, the snow is waiting to melt, the streets waiting to be swept, the patios are waiting for little bit warmth and people are waiting to get rid of their winter clothes.

People are waiting.

Over here people are waiting for Walpurgis Night or Vappu, oh, excuse me, I meant Wappu. Students here don’t settle for one night, for them it’s a two week event. It’s a carnival type celebration that has many peculiar traditions. It’s like St. Patrick’s Day on steroids. Coincidentally, for the lot of us here Wappu marks the start of outdoor grill season. No matter the weather.

In the blogging world people wait. Many of the blogs I read regularly have gone on a hiatus, which is sad news for me, because that’s where I draw inspiration, from my fellow bloggers. They’re the ones that make me think, and It’s driving me insane, because I feel this need to write, but I feel like I have nothing to say.

Not yet, anyway.

Because I’m waiting. For what, I’m still not sure.

Elsewhere people are waiting for a lot of things. Elections, the Olympic torch relay, the Pope to come by. People are waiting for change, they are waiting to be accepted and they are waiting to have their rights respected.

Does that sound like the season of new beginnings? Are things coming alive? All this waiting makes me wonder. It still feels mighty cold on so many fronts. Nothing is moving, at least so it seems. Maybe the change is so gradual that I just can’t see it. Maybe one day I wake up to find that the snow is gone and ice cream kiosks adorn the street corners. Maybe, but not today.

Today feels like the world is suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder.