People can speak as they like about the quality of life in those Scandinavian countries, but there’s no doubt I’d be ready to climb the walls during most of their year, simply because they have a very many more overcast days than we do, and of course they’re so much father north, that when high winter arrives, their hours of daylight are far fewer. Believe it or not, they don’t get our painfully numerous and bitterly cold days during the winter, but at least we get all the more sunshine and blue skies than they do.
It would be interesting to find out which sizable city in Europe has the most overcast days over the period of an average year. I’m sure they have statistics just as we do regarding overcast days. Of course I’m sure you all know Buffalo, New York is considered the most overcast larger city in the US. I read somewhere that their suicide rate is much higher than the national average. There’s much to be said about the benefits of sunlight on the human psyche.
I’ve come to know a great many over the years whose attitudes became noticeably different during overcast days. Many of years ago, I worked with an agent whose personality would turn quite wicked on dark days to where I could almost count on being whipped by an acid tongue whenever there’d be an all-day cloud cover. Even now I thank Heaven I finally said, “I’ve endured enough!”, and walked out with only one regret—I should’ve left years before. Yes, I know it was my own person “living experiment” of the frog, the beaker, and a bunsen burner, and from experience, please don’t forget to jump more sooner than later.
With most of my day free, I decided to get back to my little/big project. Expecting to get all the more work done than I did. Before calling it quits, I suddenly realized a great deal of my time was spent on the phone with several “well knowns” who live out of State. I’m glad they called because it’s always good to hear what’s happening in the lives of those living so far way.
Somehow we got on the subject of the children living in those war-torn areas of Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East, and particularly Syria. We both agreed that the future lives of those young children who may somehow manage to survive, will be emotionally scarred for the rest of their lives. I went on to tell how some people will take in previously abused cats or dogs from the animal shelters, and later find they can’t handle such abnormal feline or canine behaviors from free for the taking cats or dogs.
About 20 years ago I took in a young, but quite small terrier that must’ve come from an abusive owner. Without a doubt, I did everything I could to get him comfortably settled in his new surroundings. After about a month of attempts at curbing his passive/aggressive behavior, I simply gave up and took him back. His dark behavior was so hard-coded to where I found absolutely no sign of change in him from the time he arrived, even up and including the time he left.
Now, take a moment and consider what goes on in the minds of the adolescents who’ve lived through mental and/or physical abuse, along with personally viewing family and friends being killed before their eyes. I’m convinced, by the time the wars are over, there will be a whole generation either dead, or those small surviving numbers mentally scarred for the rest of their lives to where they’ll always be watching the skies and listening for that next air raid. So terribly sad. Wishing you all a great week ahead.
