Confessions of a SADist

'Tis the season for Seasonal Affective Disorder, and I am SAD. Perhaps we all are, at least a little bit. I'm not saying I start writing my will and planning my memorial service every time the sun goes away, but I do get a little blue coming home every night in a cloak of darkness. Without a doubt, my least favorite day of the year is the end of Daylight Savings Time — aptly termed Fall Back. If you ask me, the best thing W. has done this term is to put his Sharpie to paper to enact the Energy Policy Act, which pushed the dreadful day back an entire week, starting this year.

In my quest for brighter days, I also take note of the winter solstice, when the sun is at its farthest point from Earth. I'm an optimist by nature, and although today I might feel a fleeting tinge of abandonment around 6:08 p.m., I know that from this point on, the days will just keep getting longer. If that sounds like cause for celebration, enjoy time-honored Yuletide traditions such as mummer's plays, Morris dancing and wassailing at the Winter Solabration from 6 p.m. to midnight at the Highlands Masonic Center, 3550 Federal Boulevard. Tickets are $32 for adults, $18 for teens, $8 for kids six to twelve and free for kids under six. For details, see www.wsolstice.org or call the event hotline at 303-571-9112.
Sat., Dec. 22, 6 p.m.-midnight, 2007