Yesterday was one of the saddest days of the year for me. I knew it would be, but I didn’t know why.

I always find the first workday of standard time to be very sad. I’m most fond of having some daylight after work is over. Yesterday, had I worked a full day, I would have left work with it almost dark. It would have been dark by the time I got home. I don’t so much mind heading to work (or even arriving at work) before it’s light, so long as there’s “the golden evening brightens in the west”. (Special bonus points to the first reader who correctly identifies the not-too-difficult and oh-so-timely reference.)

However the sadnesses yesterday were of a different sort. Again I was pulled away from work to meet up with Dad at the hospital. This time he suspected a heart attack, but the tests showed nothing at all. My guess is that his nervous system is so shot that it’s giving him false reports of trouble.

Then I succumbed to a stupid and base temptation. Then the sadness started to lift as I didn’t get the satisfaction out of it that I had expected. So there was some light at the end of the tunnel after all.