Gloomy Day

Living in California, one gets quite used to days full of sunshine.  Heck, when I was in Los Angeles, after I had moved away from the coast in Santa Monica, it seemed like it was sunny year-round.  Every day was a t-shirts and shorts day, especially when I was working from home.  So when a gloomy day like today comes along, after consecutive months of summer sunshine, it feels quite jarring.  The gloomy weather really does make me feel a bit gloomy myself.  The feeling won’t be permanent.  I get used to the gloominess after awhile.  After all, I lived in South San Francisco for many years.  But a sudden change from sunshine to cloudiness is making me feel a bit down today.  I remember having this exact feeling long ago, back in junior high school.  I had just finished metal shop with Mr. Hanson, which was a fun class, something quite different from all my other classes. I left the room, walked out, and all I saw were gray clouds in the sky.  Instantly, I started feeling a bit down, thinking, shouldn’t there be something more to life?  Was that a moment of clarity or cloudiness?  Who knows.  Soon, as the cloudy winter days started piling up, that feeling passed and I felt normal again, but that feeling after metal shop that day is a feeling I relive once in awhile.  Today I feel it again and wonder, how could I have made this day better?