Ominatio (o-mi-na’-ti-o): A prophecy of evil.
Darkness had spread across the land and Chick Littel was at it again. He was running up and down Main Street telling “The sky is dark. Something bad will happen.” Yeah—it was December. It got dark around 4:30. Ir was normal. The only bad thing that happened happened to him.
He did this every year and was put on leave from his job at the newspaper. He would be sent to Stone Bridge Asylum and put him on medication until he was well again. That was usually in a week. He suffered from SAS—Seasonal Agitation Syndrome. It affects people at the change of season, when the days get longer or shorter. Daylight Savings Time puts sufferers in a frenzy, leading to an upsurge in crimes of passion.
So, in a way, Chick was right. Some murders would be committed and people would plead the “SAS case” and be found not guilty by reason of SAS. Lesser crimes would also be committed and charges dismissed by reason of SAS. For example, a crackhead stole a car and drove into the fountain on the village green. He claimed was “All SASed up” and the charge of “destroying public property while driving a motor vehicle under the influence of crack cocaine” was dismissed.
I started thinking SAS was a scam—some kind of fake disease promoted by pharmaceutical companies. They made billions because of medication mandated for sufferers of SAS. Doctors diagnosed it and probably received a bounty for each new patient booked.
I was liiving through another winter on the Canadian folder in upstate York. Spring was in the air and I was becoming agitated. When it was time to Spring forward with the clocks, I felt a surge of uncontrollable anger. I burned my mittens in the back yard and chased my neighbor with my snow shovel. I ran down Main Street yelling “it’s over, Spring will commence and you shall lose sleep, mow, and clean.”
I had SAS! Oh my God! It was real. It was true. I needed medication. I saw my doctor and got a prescription for “Seasonall.” It leveled the sense of seasonal transition in patients’ minds. This was reinforced by the “Continuum Therapy” I was receiving, where I learned there was only “One Season” that had variations, that did not alter its essential seasonhood in the process. This was assuring.
Now, on my medication, and with my counseling sessions, I hardly notice the transitions. Now, I think “It is one, the cold, the warmth, the heat, the coolness. Whatever it is, whenever it is, it is just right. It is varying face of The One Season.”
The Daily Trope 