All downhill after this

Even more than Christmas, this is the day I dream about: once we’re past it, there’s promise of longer days. It was like this in North Dakota, and I’m not sure if it was better or worse there, but it’s just super bleak when you can get up, hit the treadmill for a solid hour, shower, eat breakfast and check email – and it’s still not even close to sunrise.

Today, the sun rose at 9:26 and will set at 4:49. I can’t confirm that because it’s also 30 and cloudy all day, but that’s a step up from the last day I checked, when it was 28 and cloudy all day.  And what’s really sad to a native Floridian is that at this point, 30 – or even 28 – as downright balmy, at least if it’s not humid and snowing.

At the chocolate factory store

 So, like when I lived in Minot, I view it as once I make it through the winter solstice, I can make it through winter. Yeah, it only gets more and more cold after this, but at least the days get longer. Right now, I commute to work in the dark both ways. It’s just bleak.

 I’m intent on getting my steps in and an easy, but sometimes bitterly cold, way to do this is by walking home by the river, which I love. I normally take a one-hour walk home if it’s not too bad, but one day recently I took the really long way, which is an hour and a half. That was a mistake because not only was it extremely dark and cold but also because the stretch after Gorky park had a layer of ice on the walkway. This is not a detriment to Belarusians; they hustle right by me. But I am terrified of slipping and falling, and both my lack of balance and the residual knot on my head from last year’s fall and subsequent concussion remind me I am not as sure-footed as everyone else.

October Square near my house.
This was at 7:45 a.m. on my way to work.

This December 21 feels like more of a milestone than the last one because it’ll be my last one in Minsk. I love Minsk but man, it’s dark in the fall. I cannot understand how people in Scandinavia, Alaska and Siberia must feel. So far this year, I haven’t had to drag out my happy lamp – starting the day with 2 miles on the treadmill gets the endorphins going – but as lovely as sundown at 10 p.m. is in June, it is not worth the tradeoff. I wake up in the middle of the night and have absolutely no feel as to what time it is. Could be 1 a.m.; could be 5 a.m. This morning, I managed to sleep late and woke up at 7:50 a.m. but I seriously thought it was the middle of the night. Nope. By that time in summer, I would have 7k steps and would still be walking.

But I’m doing the best I can still. Last week, even after doing four miles on the treadmill, I walked down to the chocolate factory to buy my Secret Santa gift. There’s a store essentially right across the street from my apartment, but I like the factory store better because I can just reach in and get how much I want instead of trying to explain to someone what I need – my Russian is terrible. Plus, I don’t want half a kilo of any given candy; I want two pieces of this, two pieces of that, etc. And man, it was the place to be, which make me want to speed through there. I’d been there a couple times before but there were quite a few people in there. Everyone was wearing masks – they’re finally enforcing that here – but basically it was just people on top of people and I hate that. Plus, I bought these awesome overpants that I wear outside – gamechanger! – and although they make walking even an hour and a half by the river totally bearable, they turn into thigh saunas when I am inside. I went to the big market a few weekends ago and couldn’t have been inside 10 minutes but I felt sweat running down my legs as I crammed my cartons of eggs into my bag. Great for the outdoors, but miserable indoors.