time and directions

my sense of time is skewed. i depend heavily on the sun to clue me in on approximately what time it is. the weather, too, in as much as the seasons dictating what angle the sun should be at what time.

so especially with the LA fires, which dim the sun a bit (even tho it is fully sunny), my sense of time is quite screwed up. i look outside and think, wow, it's already 4 or 430pm? then i check my watch: try 1:30. the sun is at a low angle and it's 90 degrees, that must mean it's about 6pm. nope, 3:30. 6pm is completely dark, even if it is 75 degrees still.

when we were hiking yesterday, i apparently was a little turned-around directionally (which makes sense after winding around on mountain roads a while to get there). i kept thinking it was already mid to late-afternoon, even tho it was only 11am. it seemed like we were heading east and the sun was setting in the west, as it was at a lower angle. nope, the canyon we were in opened to the south, and the sun was at a low angle just because it's mid-november. oops.

when i was in australia, i would get mixed up all the time. i still often mess up directions based on where the sun is. yes, the sun still rises in the east and sets in the west, but in the winter months, it is to the north, not the south. i still think of campus being north of the residence halls, when actually it's south.

in VA, the ocean is to the east, and inland is to the west. so here, i get confused since it's opposite. i didn't realize how ingrained that definition of east and west are until i mis-speak it out here. i mean to say malibu is west, but since it's on the coast, that, by definition makes it to the east. nope, it's really west of here.

so i'm sure most of you are like, dianne, you're just silly, but it's these little things that mess me up, that make me realize that the way i think of things doesn't make it correct. it's a bit humbling, and i definitely need that!