The longest month

 

How many months does this month have?

After December, January always feels like the longest month. There's a scientific explanation, because time flies when we're having fun. The brain produces the neurotransmitter dopamine, which speeds up our internal clock, making time seem to move faster. It's the stuff that triggers pleasure in that first glass of wine.

The monotonous January weather doesn't help. It isn't especially cold or hot or wet or dry-- just grey and damp. But slowly but surely, the late afternoons are a bit lighter. 

"The shortest day has passed, and whatever nastiness of weather we may look forward to in January and February, at least we notice that the days are getting longer.  Minute by minute they lengthen out.  It takes some weeks before we become aware of the change.  It is imperceptible even as the growth of a child, as you watch it day by day, until the moment comes when with a start of delighted surprise we realize that we can stay out of doors in a twilight lasting for another quarter of a precious hour."
 

-  Vita Sackville-West