Traffic reporters on Atlanta radio often use this misleadingly cheery phrase when referring to the experience of commuters who live due west of their workplace, especially those who live in Douglasville and work in Atlanta.  Those poor saps find themselves blinded by the rising sun on their way into work, and blinded by the setting sun on their way home.  It’s an interesting phenomenon: sunshine delay is the slowing of traffic caused by the collective retina burn of thousands of drivers.  I used to hear this phrase on the radio and instantly give thanks that I didn’t have one of those commutes.  

Now that I have become one of those poor saps, I think that “sunshine misery” is a more apt description of driving one hour twice a day blinded by the sun.  I can at least gratefully report that it doesn’t seem to be a year round phenomenon.  I’ve been commuting from Cumming to Lawrenceville for three months now, since August.  In the beginning, I noted the sun in my eyes as a minor annoyance, but it has progressively grown more intrusive.  Since changing the clocks on Sunday for Daylight Savings, it’s been worse than ever.  

During ten hours of commuting this week, I have:

• Arrived at work and at home cranky and ready to bite.
• Fantasized about working the night shift.
• Throttled my husband for taking the only pair sunglasses out of my car.  (He didn't know this had risen to the level of a hanging offense – quite suddenly over the weekend, because of Daylight Savings.)
• Cursed my ancestors for making me short. 
• Come up over a hill to find myself still hurtling forward at 50 MPH but suddenly entirely blinded by sun.
• Wished I had a fancier car where the seat height was adjustable.
• Wondered why they don’t make the sunvisor just an inch or two lower.
• Decided to bring a pillow to sit on the next day (and forgot to bring it, three times).
• Decided to bring a suction-cup duckie from my daughter’s bathtub toys that I could stick on the windshield to block the sun (and forgot to bring it, four times).
• Considered finding a new job closer to home (84,291 times).
• PARKED IN THE ROAD while traffic ahead crept on without me, infuriating the drivers behind me, because I couldn’t stand to drive out of a rare patch of blissful shade only to gain one car length!  (Sorry about that, folks.)
• Reminded myself that just as it has recently gotten worse, so must it eventually get better.

I've spent a lot of time pondering sunshine misery without finding any good solutions.  I considered renouncing Daylight Savings Time, but I don't think my boss would be very supportive.  And I keep forgetting the pillow and the duck. 

In the grand scheme of things, sunshine misery is not such an awful affliction.  In fact, as one who believes in the power of counting blessings, I have decided that it is a small price to pay for being blessed with a job and a car.  So I'll just wait for the wheel to turn, the earth to revolve, and the sun to move out of my eyes.