Nearly nightfall

It's closing in on four o'clock in the afternoon, and I love this time of the day (at this point in the year, that is). The alcove in the library, where my PCs live, is not exactly bathed in sunlight - or, any light, truth be told - unless I want to open up my emaciated coffers and throw money at the energy company to turn on a light.

I had replaced the center ceiling light (a standard fixture in ALL mid-fifties-built ranch-style homes) with several recessed lights to make it easier to see book titles anywhere on the shelves, which now line most walls in the room. Years ago, I even included the installation of a lamp in what once was the closet when I reallocated the little room for a better purpose.

What once was a bedroom you entered through a door mid-way down the central narrow hall is now a sweet extension of the typical ranch living room - a library you access through French doors between it and the living room.

The sun at this time of year sets at such an angle as to penetrate the library around 3 or so, and move lovingly around the room until it reaches the alcove and covers my keyboards with glorious sunlight, unimpeded by leafy trees and heavy shades, drawn to keep the heat at bay. After little more than an hour or so, the power of the direct sunlight wanes, and while still providing workable light, it begins to feel - and look - more twilight in nature. It approaches the roofline of the houses on the next street over as it sinks in the sky and our planet turns, and soon, the beautiful orb will be settling in the sky for another evening. I always make certain I am sitting in the library on fall afternoons.

So quickly fly the daylight hours in the late fall and winter months.