Changing Seasons

Welcome to fall and hibernation. Sometimes I feel that I might be part bear. It is inevitable that around this time of year, I begin the downward slide into sloth. This last Tuesday the urge hit me hard as I fought to stay awake while reading some mind-numbing article for my Archives course; finally this learning-induced coma won out, and I found myself turning off my book light and going to sleep at 9:30pm for the first time I could remember (at least while I wasn't battling some sort of vicious flu or SARS) in my own hazy recollections.
This irresistible pull towards dreamland is accompanied by the unrelenting urge to consume food at completely inappropriate hours, perhaps due to some kind of latent instinctual drive to gain the body mass that will feed me through my long winter's slumber. I only manage to avoid making a complete pig of myself by keeping the cupboards bare, and my husband's own snacking urges perpetually unfulfilled.
My increased levels of restorative sleep and nourishment don't leave me with any sort of increased energy levels; instead, I rely on my morning's bike commute in the crisp fall air to act as my surrogate demitasse of espresso. While I appreciate the health benefits I've gained by cutting caffeine out of my diet and adding exercise, I do wish my wake-up call could leave me less sweaty and disheveled when I arrive at work. All that aside, I really am looking forward to taking on the challenge of winter bike commuting. I've bought a vast array of over-the-top bike lights to make motorists more aware of me through the winter evening's gloom, or at least induce such epileptic seizures in offending drivers that they're too busy trying to recover to be able to spray me with sludge, graze me with their rear-view mirrors, or beep furiously at me for having the audacity of taking up their valuable lane space. Wish me luck and send me warm thoughts - I'm off to contemplate the snack and nap that are not the in the cards for me.