Dear Farmer and the Darkness

cue dark music....Dear Farmer doesn't do well with darkness.  He works much better in sunlight.  And as most all of his work is outside...sunlight would be quite helpful. End of dark music.
We all function so much better with sunlight, but here in the north it's rarely sunny in the wintertime.  Our days are most often filled with clouds.  Especially if the temperatures are warmer...then it's really cloudy!And usually it's raining as well.  The gloom is something Dear Farmer doesn't handle all together perfectly.  He doesn't like to be wet, or cold, or encased in gloom.  All three together are the recipe for a very un-enthusiastic Farmer.  Then he becomes like Eeyore, the donkey in Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne...a sad farmer, a whoa-is-me-farmer, a why-oh-why?-farmer.
All of this means several things in Dear Farmer's household.  First of all, no matter how much electricity costs, absolutely every light in the rooms where Dear Farmer will be must be on.  This includes closets as well.  He says it helps lift his spirits...the Wife cringes as the meter could be used for a ceiling fan on day like this.
Secondly, we will never be moving to Alaska(sorry, friends) or anywhere where there is a period of darkness for any amount of time.
 Lastly, this means that even with all the lights in the house on-Dear Farmer will still be a little gloomy as he does have to work outside. So the family tries to make his favorite foods for meals, tries to be kind-er to each other and not have loud rambunctious fussy children(HA!).
Even with all our attempts to help, the evening still rolls in at 4:30 p.m. And being a man who's life is dictated by the sunshine...darkness means it should be time for dinner and bed...even if it is only 4:30 p.m.  The other day, Dear Farmer came inside.  It was another raining day, gloomy, and cold.  He shed his "work duds" and turned to the kitchen where the Wife and Hausfrau Farmer's Daughter had already created dinner-complete with fresh homemade yeast rolls.  The table was set, the children were seated, and the family ate dinner.  Shortly after dinner, Dear Farmer retired to the living room to sit by the woodstove.  The children began to get a little loud and rowdy so Dear Farmer sent them all upstairs for bed.  When the Wife finished taking care of the dirty dishes, leftovers, and baby she saw that all the children were gone.  "Where are the children?" ,she asked Dear Farmer.
"Bed." was his short reply.
"But it's only 6:30 p.m.!!!", the Wife exclaimed.
"It's dark outside.", said Dear Farmer.
Surely all of the world has children that will gladly and quietly go to bed at 6:30 in the evening, but not Dear Farmer's.  However, once put in bed...they aren't getting out....it's the principle of the matter.  So, despite the children's dislike of an earlier than usual bedtime, it was still bedtime, and Dear Farmer retired to bed at 7p.m. .(The Wife still had stuff to do, so she did not.)
Thankfully, wintertime doesn't last all year.  Thankfully, the days will get longer next year, and we won't be living in a gloomy dark cave much longer.  Thankfully, Dear Farmer has taken to looking at the clock a little more frequently, and even though we hear "It's only 4:15 and already it's getting dark!" we know that Dear Farmer has at least checked the clock.
cue dark music...