Sun Worshiper and Ice Fishing

We went to our neighboring city of Jurmala to take Savannah to an indoor water park for a birthday party one Saturday, and as we were pulling in, we noticed this man across the street.  I stopped the car and took a picture to capture the moment.  He was on his deck with outstretched arms trying to get Vitamin D from the little bit of sun that was popping through the clouds! 

And when I say "little bit of sun," that's what I mean!  This is all that was there, but this man was taking advantage of the opening in the clouds and stood there for at least the 5 minutes we watched him.  He was in his own world too.  He didn't bother to look around or take his eyes off of that sunlight.  He was focused as he soaked up the light.  I thought maybe he would break out into an operatic song, but he never did. ;)  This scene made me happy because there was someone here in Latvia craving sunlight as much as me.

We had literally weeks and a few months of almost only gray sky where I was literally feeling closed in by what seemed like smothering clouds.  If I was claustrophobic, I think I would have a problem here!  Finally in January I started feeling less and less happy or enthusiastic about anything, and borrowed a few "happy lights" (that's what I call them) from the embassy, and started feeling back to normal after a few weeks of using them (of course I was taking Vitamin D too).  I keep the lights here on the side table in the family room to turn on whenever I'm sitting and can feel the weather affecting me.  I don't know how they work, but they work!

 As we were waiting for Savannah to go into the birthday party, we noticed these men walking in front of us all dressed up in ice fishing gear, carrying their equipment.  They get to enjoy ice fishing for the next few months since the rivers have finally frozen over.  How anyone can sit and fish in this cold, humid weather is beyond me!