From Dave Barry, March 11, 2018, quoting a letter to the editor in The Des Moines (Iowa) Register: “The snow is melting faster because of daylight savings time. There is the same amount of sunlight, but the extra hour of afternoon sun is warmer than the hour of morning sun. Go back to standard time and the melting will slow down and less flooding. Problem solved.”

Is it just my February brain or do you too have to stop to reread this and then THINK why doesn’t this make sense?

The feeling around here was universal: I don’t even mind the rain — well, it’s better than snow — but oh! what I wouldn’t give to see the sun! To know there’s blue sky up there, somewhere.

Of course, it isn’t that bleak … maybe.

My weather records go back to 2003 though I have no intention of boring you with tons of figures. Let’s just look at the weekend of the 6th and 7th. The sun shone four times out of ten in those early years on the sixth but not a single day on the seventh in those same times. But jumping happily ahead until July for the same numbers, the sun shone on every single day on the sixth and missed only once on the seventh. Even when it rained (and it did — at times) the showers were short and the sun returned.

There is a name for it — Seasonal Disorder — and bright lights are supposed to be one cure. Many of you find a different solution spending a week to six months farther south. Go wherever you find what pleases you.

Me? I tend to follow the words of Jane Austin: “There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.”

Sometimes it’s more difficult but I force myself, if force is required, to find the joy in each hour of my days. I can hear them saying,“Blah. It’s another stupid Pollyanna.” Maybe. It’s hackneyed — but, you know, once it’s gone, it ain’t never comin’ back, folks. (And I do suffer painful disappointments too but why let it get me down?)

Do me a little favor. Take today if you’re reading this at breakfast. Picture your day until bedtime. Now let’s add some extra sunshine. Do something nice for someone. Hold a door when you’re going in — or out. Women can do that now too, you know. No door? Perhaps today is so miserable you don’t plan to leave the house. That needn’t stop kindness. Call, email or send a note to someone — anyone you know — just to say you’re thinking of them with love — or liking. It doesn’t matter. (Hate or spite will NOT do.) Too sugary? Think what a boost you’d get to receive such a note.

Talk to people. Once, walking between stores in Dunkirk, a woman stopped to say she liked my umbrella. And I remember that bit of kindness yet.

Our grocery stores have packed their aisles so full that many are like one-way streets. I have been known to barge ahead (I confess — I’m not always nice) but most (and that’s a definite most) of the time I yield to shoppers approaching me. Old or young, man or woman, it matters not. “You go ahead” and a smile can work wonders. (If not always for the other, at least for me.)

One of the nicest places I’m seeing this is at Aldi. If you’re not in the Jamestown or Dunkirk area and they’re new to you, let me explain briefly. Aldi charges a quarter to take a shopping cart from the row. The reason for this is to keep the carts corralled instead of having them left all over the lot. You do need to remember that quarter which I know can be a nuisance. (Some boycott the store because they don’t want to “pay” for the “privilege” of shopping. Right — it’s free everyplace else.)

Well, it’s free at Aldi too. Return the cart to its proper slot and you get your quarter back. Only it isn’t working here as the store expected. People are waiting to hand theirs off to the next approaching shopper. No, I don’t want your quarter. Take the cart — please — just give it to the next person. At first this seemed like a singularity. Last time I saw two or three carts, quarter in slot, just waiting.

Is it surprising a Scrooge hasn’t cashed them in? I don’t believe so. Even on the darkest days, there’s sunshine among us all. People really are nice.

P.S. Have you noticed how quickly it’s getting lighter each day? Good there is — and good is coming.

Susan Crossett has lived in Arkwright for more than 20 years. A lifetime of writing led to these columns as well as two novels. “Her Reason for Being” was published in 2008 with “Love in Three Acts” following in 2014. Information on all the Musings, her books and the author may be found at Susancrossett.com.