We’ve made our way back to Florida to finish the year and lost our endless blue skies somewhere around New Orleans. We definitely started taking our practically flawless (if you conveniently ignore the oppressively hot stretches) weather for granted. Day after day, waking up to cartoonishly blue skies, maybe a puffy little winking cloud or two (I call it “Simpsons Skies”) is a real gift. (I should know; I used to live in Seattle.) We refer to how we live as “chasing the sun,” and man, has it been glorious. I can’t remember having any rain for the last five months, and now that it’s back, coinciding with the end of Daylight saving time (and, as I write, Election Day)?! Let’s just say I’m fighting every impulse just to stay tucked in bed under the covers, head included.

We all know sunlight and darkness trigger hormones that help regulate mood. The short days and long nights between Daylight savings are already hard enough to make depression rates skyrocket. (Seriously, someone push a bill through already.) Add to that less hospitable weather, and oof. The data regarding how much time the average American spends outdoors is sad. More often than not, outside is just a place you move through to get in—no wonder we’re all in a bad mood.

Colan and I spent most of our fifteen years together living through cold, dark, and often brutal winters. But in that life, home is stationary, mostly lived under the same sky. Winter (and rainy spring) is something you just put your head down and try to get through without going up a pants size. But living a nomadic life has changed everything and given us the freedom to pick our path and chase the sun. (Calling a tin can home and keeping it warm and without frozen water lines has a little say in the matter, too.) Spending most of our time outside, even if it’s just working at a rickety picnic table, has been life-affirming. It makes us feel so much younger than our years. (And we’re two people who spent a great deal of time outside already!) The more time we spend out, the less we want in.

Here’s hoping wherever you are this time of year, you can regularly breathe in fresh air. Find a way to chase the sun, even figuratively works! The coldest nights often make for the clearest, most cosmic views. And if that doesn’t work, March 9th will get here before we know it. (It just doesn’t feel like it.)

Hope to see you out there! —CL