A midwinter education

Every month, the lovely Emily at Chatting at the Sky invites her readers and fellow writers to share what they've been learning lately, be it frivolous or profound. December's round-up was a recap of the whole year prior. However, looking back on 2014 through my post-flu mid-teething lens didn't seem fair, so I sat that one out. Instead, I've included a couple December tidbits along with Janaury's.

Here's what I've been learning:

My S.A.D. lamp isn't really a S.A.D. lamp, but it still helps. Once upon a time, my mother-in-law lent my husband a full-spectrum light to help with his S.A.D.- type symptoms. Seeing as I find heavy overcasts seriously draining, I thought I'd dig it up and give it a try. I discovered something called an Ott Lite tucked up on a shelf, and assumed I'd found what I was looking for. I used it on and off for weeks while reading or sitting at the computer on cloudy days. I felt energized in the mornings and had none of the too-buzzed-to-sleep side-effects my husband experienced if I sat under it in the afternoon. Last week my mother-in-law informed me that it wasn't actually her S.A.D. lamp, but a really good reading lamp she'd passed on on another occasion. It isn't full-spectrum, but it is meant to mimic daylight and reduce eye-strain. Placebo effect, anyone? Or maybe I've just been reading in poor light for too long. I think I'll keep using it anyways.

A kiwifruit is actually a berry. My son asked me if kiwis grew on trees - I had no idea, so I pulled out my pocket encyclopedia (i.e. smartphone browser) and looked it up. Turns out they grow on vines - and are now the biggest berry I've ever seen.

I don't self-identify as fat, but seeing this photo-shoot had me identifying with dancers. It's not often you see still-shots of fleshly bodies in motion. I looked at all these dancers whose flesh folds when they bend and flops when they spin and thought "hey - my skin does that too!" Bravo!

Taking a two-year hiatus from the dentist is a bad plan. Unless you throw a pregnancy in the mix - then it's an abysmal one. I'd heard that pregnancy hormones could wreak havoc on a momma's teeth, but this was the first time I saw such negative results. My return to the dentist chair was painfully illuminating. February will be a month of fillings for me, followed by yet more scaling. Ouch.

Adding a little history increases my interest in hair and makeup exponentially. Haley at Carrots for Michaelmas clued me into this awesome montage of beauty trends, tracking how they've changed from 1910. I've since stumbled on the creator's second video, and a side-by-side comparison. They each run a minute or less - which is a good feature in a video I end up watching several times in a row every couple days. So fun!

Comments

  1. Okay, the kiwi thing is blowing my mind! A berry?? I had no idea, I'll never see them the same way again! Haha love your list!

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    Replies
    1. That one blew my mind too! I keep having these crazy visions of some "Where the Wild Things Are" type creature eating them whole, fussy skin and all. Glad you liked the list :)

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