It’s 6:40 am. As I step down from my porch, darkness immediately encloses me, and the remaining light from my home quickly vanishes. The wind and stinging rain bombard my face as I wander to my driveway and fumble with my keys. I start the engine of my car, turn up the heaters, and slowly back out of the driveway. I exit my neighborhood and prepare myself to drive into the obsidian void ahead of me. 

Ever since the fall season started, my early mornings have been plagued with never ending darkness. I’m not expecting to see stellar sun-rises during my drive to school, but the pitch-black sky and occasional rain makes the start of my day far worse. 

It’s not hard for me to become grumpy and slightly depressed after cruising through the deep black roads. I’m on my way to school, which as a senior can be very frustrating, and my route to school forces me to drive through many busy intersections and windy roads shaded by trees. Idling in traffic makes me feel unproductive since I can’t do anything else when I’m driving, and the constant lack of sunlight before and during school hours makes going to school feel like going to prison. Thanks, NASH.

Also, the amount of roadkill I’ve seen at 6:45 in the morning is repulsive. Whether it’s from bad driving or indecisive animals wanting to cross the road, I don’t want to see it. I know that the roads are invading animals’ homes, but why do some squirrels feel the need to sprint across the street at the sight of a car?   

As a side note, the LED lights on cars on the other side of the road are the absolute worst. When I’m driving down a dark road and a car with those wretched lights comes around the bend, even in the daylight, the brightness of the headlights literally makes me lose sight for a few seconds. Whoever invented LED lights for cars needs to take a chill pill. The old yellow headlights on my 2010 Subaru cannot compete with the blinding luminosity of newer lights. Seriously, I keep the fog lights on constantly with my headlights so I can see.  

Despite all of my complaints against nature, the 20 minutes of time to myself does help me destress. Being alone with my thoughts keeps me in check with reality and my mental to-do lists. I often find myself planning out my school day, like when I’m going to finish my statistics homework, or thinking about my future plans. Plus, my morning playlist keeps me from getting too bad-tempered. 

Overall, I am still annoyed by how excessively dark the mornings are. It looks and feels like 3 am instead of 6 am, and that really puts a damper on the start of the day. My only wish is to have a bit more light to improve my mood and vision on my way to school.