it's gonna be a good day

I'm going to try not to sound smug* as I describe the total joy that filled me when I woke up this morning on the first of December to sunlight streaming through my window. Such a sublime moment and a true blessing for this seasonally affected girl. Nothing like sunshine to coax me out bed on a chilly morning. I contemplated digging out my sunglasses as I walked to the metro but risked the eye damage to take it all in. There is simply nothing better than a crisp sunny morning. The newly hung Christmas decorations looked out of place in the bright morning light but by the time I walk home, they'll twinkle like stars in the dark winter's night.

And when a handsome gentlemen gave me his seat on the metro, I thought to myself, "yep, today is going to be a good day."

*Sorry Alaskans and others who are not as meteorologically blessed - you're in my prayers.

good day sunshine

It's been a bit of an off day. The sort where climbing back into bed feels like the only sensible thing to do. But I fight it I did - for better or worse, I coaxed myself out of bed and made it into work. By lunch I was still entertaining fantasies of crawling back to bed, so I took action. I took 2 ibprofin (for my head ache) and headed out. I picked up a big diet coke on ice and a chocolate chocolate chip cookie with my lunch and made my way to the park. If medication, caffeine and chocolate weren't enough some fresh air was sure to help.

And then the sun came out. The heat of summer has past, but instead of crisp autumn air, we've had a lot of grey and damp weather around here. Though I hate to complain about the weather, I'd been craving some sunshine. And my oh my, did it feel good. If the sun hadn't ducked behind a cloud, I might not have been able to drag myself away. I found myself singing this on my way back to work. 

This video made me smile. 

 

in the land of the mid-night sun

Happy Summer Solstice everyone!

I'm all sorts of excited for summer AND that it's going to start getting dark again.  I don't mean to be a hater, but all this sunlight is messing with my circadian rhythm and this lack of sleep is catching up with me.  I am dragging today (and a sorta strung out on diet coke).

So I was successful in getting myself out of the house this weekend. Maybe a little too successful....  But here in Fairbanks, solstice is a big deal and I have to live it up because this is my chance to experience the Midnight Sun festivities. 

Seasonal Affective Disorder

So I self diagnosed myself with seasonal affective disorder back in December.  When the days were only a few short hours long, all I could think of was crawling back in bed.  But now that it never gets dark, I am having the opposite problem.  

I'm having trouble persuading myself to go to bed.  It's pretty ridiculous that at the age of 30 I'm having to force myself to get to bed at a reasonable hour.  On the bright side, even with significantly less sleep, I feel pretty great.  Yay for sunshine!

the days are getting shorter

Over the past month since I arrived in Fairbanks I have witness the days getting shorter and shorter.  The days were still long when I got here and it stayed light untill after 9 and the sun was up before I was. However, as the weeks have gone by it has been darker and darker each morning when I get up. Today is the equinox - which means that we here in Fairbanks, like everyone else on the planet had 12 hours of sunlight. It's all down here from here. I took a walk at lunch time to soak up some much needed sun because its going fast. 

It hasn't gotten to cold yet and I don't think that we've had a frost yet. The flowers are still blooming and strangely enough, the lilacs are still blooming. Its seems that the summers here are so condensed that the plants get kinda confused.