Now I'm Not As S.A.D.

As some of you may know if you have followed this blog closely enough for long enough, I have a bit of an issue with Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.). Consequently, this time of year is my least favorite as you might imagine, especially combined with the recently previously mentioned significant family death anniversary dates that happen every year within this general timeframe.

In light of this (pun intended) I noticed night-before-last on the way home from mom's house around dusk that there was longer twilight and sunset had happened minutes later than had been the case for weeks previously. This made made me very happy! Tonight (the last night of Autumn 2016) I did a little research and here are some hard facts:

• Each year in Paso Robles, the earliest sunset time first occurs on November 29th when sunset happens at 4:50 p.m. PST.
• This sunset time remains in place through December 12th each year at Paso Robles, CA. 
• Due to the vicissitudes of astronomical movements and geometry, even after sunset starts coming later in the evening on December 13th, sunrise continues to come later in the morning and that change is greater causing the overall length of day to continue to shorten through December 21st when the Winter Solstice signals a return to ever-lengthening days. 
• Hours of daylight at Paso Robles shorten down to a minimum of time at 9  hours, 45 minutes from December 18th through December 26th. 
• Two nights ago when I first noted this season that the sun was setting later and the twilight was longer, sunset was at 4:52 p.m. PST. It appears I'm so light-sensitive that I detected that two-minute differential. 

Source: http://www.timebie.com/sun/pasoroblesca.php