In the past two weeks I have found myself singing this tune many times. After a few months of living in Alaska’s darkest period I have been craving the seemingly longer days and sunny nights that I was greeted with back in August. To back-track, when I first got to Alaska, it was light until around 11:00pm and then bight again at 6:00am. During my last week in Pilot Point (in December), the sun was setting somewhere around 4:30-4:45. My last day in Alaska before winter break was the winter solstice which meant we had our shortest day of the year and that from that point on, we would begin gaining daylight again.
While I don’t think the darkness really have a lasting negative impact on my daily moods or emotions, I still missed the ability to go out in the daylight after school. When I got to Nondalton and walked home from school the first time, I think I left at 4:30 and by the time I got home less than ten minutes later, it was just about closing in on my window of comfortable walking light. As I adjusted to my new village that first week, I began to stay out later and later each evening; I would go on runs after school, always staying close to home in case it got too dark. By the end of my third week in Nondalton I was able to stay out until close to 6:00 by the time it was getting dark. At first I thought my comfort level within the village was just expanding, but then I remembered that our nights were starting to get longer.
In Alaska, when we start getting our sunshine back, it occurs quickly. Each day we get back about 5-6 minutes of sunlight (split between morning and night). Two weeks ago when I left my house for school at 7:30 in the morning, I no longer had to turn on my porch-light because the sunlight was starting to come up from behind the mountains. Similarly, at night, it was about 7:00 before it started to get dark. The temperatures were also starting to rise making me think that my first Alaskan spring was right around the corner. (Insert daylight savings time here).
Back when I was in PIP, I’d been asked so many times by family and friends if Alaska turned the clocks along with the rest of the lower 48 for daylight savings time. The answer was and still is yes. So last weekend when everyone else was “springing ahead” and losing an hour, we were doing the same thing here in the bush. However, it really is a win-win in my opinion. The effect of changing the clocks means that we now need the porch-light again in the morning when we’re going to school. But it also means that it doesn’t start to get dark until after 8:00 each night! This is something I have been eagerly waiting for and it has definitely made me feel more energized the past couple of weeks.
Not only does it get darker later, but we are still gaining that daylight every day. This means that in just a few more weeks it will be getting lighter earlier in the morning and it will be even later before the sun sets at night. I love every second of it! While I’d like to be able to take advantage of this and go on walks or runs that late at night, winter has made its way back to Alaska with a vengeance. The past week has been bitterly cold and windy in the villages, and it makes me want to stay bundled up at home (even the natives don’t want to go outside much!). I’m hoping the cold weather won’t last too much longer before letting me get outside to enjoy my night-time sunshine.
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