Alaska in the Rearview —Land of the Midnight Sun
I guess the sun sets up here, but we don’t see it if it does. Just the opposite of my years on the graveyard shift. Go to work in the dark, get home in the dark, live like a mole or a miner. Up here the dawn merges with dusk and it’s definitely disorienting. Maybe if I was a plant I’d love it, but I feel sorry for the owls who have about 30 minutes to catch dinner or go hungry.
I’m still trying to adjust to exactly when to eat my own dinner. The other ‘night’ is was 11 pm or so when we put on the feedbag, thinking it must be about 7 or 8. Lots of folks are wandering the streets at 2 am, but I’m sure they’re not up early for breakfast. Me, I never know when to get up. All I know is, it’ll be light out.
Frankly, I’m not sure I like this. I know I wouldn’t like winter up here, probably explains why they don’t call it the Land of the Noon Moon. Today I woke up at 9 am. I think it was A.M.. Since I don’t carry a watch or a cellphone with one or a laptop with the time, I’m working on how high the sun is. Outside on the highway near our room-by-the-week, the motel sign has a red digital time readout. I think I see why now. Folks who park here probably can’t afford their own clocks.
If environment is culture — and it must be to a large degree — this seasonal tilt might explain why Alaskans don’t consider themselves a true part of our stateside America. They’re not just a completely different time zone, they’re operating in a twilight zone. Einstein was correcto, amigo — time is relative. I figure he must’ve vacationed up in the 49th where everybody knows this, they just didn’t work out the equation….
Hits: 1504