Here Comes The Sun.

I write to you from my bedroom.

The hour is just past 9:30pm and outside, the sun remains high in the sky.

Birds chirp through my open window, and temperatures still sit comfortably content at sixty-six degrees.

The thought of sleep is far, far away.

Summer in Alaska has arrived.

One of the most glorious times of the year is summer here in Alaska.

Although our bodies sometimes struggle to adjust to the mere five hour window of “darkness” (which is more like dusk anyway), and we dine later in the day (usually around 9pm), we look forward to this time of year and the opportunities it brings.

Gardening, fishing, hunting, hiking, and biking are just a few of the activities that keep most Alaskans happy and what draw tourists from all over the world to this wild and remote land.

My favorite part of summer?

The sunshine.

After months and months (and months) of darkness and cold, we are blessed with this incredible amount of sunshine that lingers on the horizon until near midnight and then barely dips down before popping up again at four in the morning.

Its warmth is contagious. There’s something about sunlight, and especially after so many months without it, that cure all winter blues (or any current blues). I instantly feel happier, prone to little acts of kindness (like buying a stranger a cup of coffee-iced, of course), and my mood is lifted as high as the sky. My shorts and tanks come out of their winter hibernation, and I often spend hours outside reading aloud to whomever will listen. Likely my cat or the birds.

Like the Beatles sing it best:

Here comes the sun

Here comes the sun, and I say

It’s alright…