It’s cold. I don’t know whether I view the past with rose-tinted glasses or whether our weather really is warmer, but it seems to me ages since we had a really cold proper winter. Spending a lot of time at home at the moment means I have to watch the heating (fortunately the flat is warm anyway), but as much as I enjoy being at home warm and curled up, living in London you are aware of how many people live on the streets and that this is just a particularly horrible time of the year.
I’ve also become aware in recent days that people keep their curtains closed during the day when they are at home to keep warm, and denying ourselves daylight, particularly now when days are short, is really unhealthy. Look at the size of windows on expensive houses or apartments, and look at them on standard housing. If you are wealthy you will have acres of glass in your housing. Developers keep costs down by fitting minimum size windows, which means many, many people do not get enough daylight. I have worked with children who have been at the beginning of developing rickets. And it effects mental health. Take daylight away and we will suffer from depression. So try and get as much exposure to daylight as you can. It has been a relatively sunny autumn and sunshine cheers everyone up. Sadly daylight is a luxury some people cannot afford.
(I’m a bit gloomy today, hence seriousness of above post – need a job….)
