I am very fair-skinned, with light eyes and medium-colored hair. For as long as I can remember, the sun made me feel ill. The older I got, the sicker I'd feel. I felt uncomfortable in the heat, my skin would feel all prickly, I got horrible headaches, and sometimes I even got sick to my stomach. I've always loved being out in nature, but on really sunny days, it bothered me and I'd try to stay in/near the woods and the shade.

I've lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for the past eleven years, or so, and there have been very few sunny days here. When the sun has come out in the past, it would cause instant headaches and I'd feel uncomfortable. But, last year as the Spring faded into Summer, I found myself being drawn to sit outside in the sun. I was, by then, eating 100% raw foods. Every day it became some strange kind of craving---I must sit in the sun. I'd sit there for extended periods of time, never just a few minutes. On the days when there was no sun, I felt like a caged animal. I'd find myself pacing around, not knowing why. After some time, I understood it---the sun wasn't out and my body was craving sunshine. On 100% raw, my body was craving sunshine! It felt so good, so healthy. Sitting in the sun's rays warmed me all the way to deep within my bones and I felt like I was being nourished, or something. It's kind of difficult to explain, because it was all instinct/feeling.

Then something happened that has altered my life in a very big way. The Summer faded into Fall and finding sunshine in Pittsburgh during the Fall and Winter is like panning for gold in the gravel at the bottom of a fish tank---you aren't going to find it! Remember I said when the sun didn't come out for a day in the Summer I'd find myself pacing around? Well, what happened when the sun didn't show its face for many days in a row during the Fall and Winter was much worse. At first I didn't realize what was going on. I thought I must be going through some deep emotional detox, or something, that I couldn't figure out. I felt the most tremendous urgency to take flight---to leave everyone and everything and get to someplace that felt comfortable. I did a lot of inner searching to find out what was going on, realized a lot of things about myself, but mostly understood that I was feeling some inner primal survival-type instinct that I needed to find a sunnier, warmer place to be living.

So, that brings us to this present day. Here I am in Pittsburgh, with no sunshine, and my eyes have become sensitive to the sun again when it does shine. But, I'm okay with it because it's only temporary. The lack of sunshine here has forced me to reevaluate what's important in my life. My need for sunshine and fresher air is vital to my well being, which I honor above just about anything else at this point in my life. My family and I have discussed this and they fully understand and agree---Pittsburgh doesn't have enough sunny days or fresh air. We will be moving before the end of this year. I will miss so many things about this lovely city, but eating raw foods and gaining greater health has put me on a different path---one that is filled with adventure and a vibrant life, but most of all sunshine!