After a recent trip to Alaska I've begun to notice daylight. Before that about the only attention I gave to it was during the shift to or from Daylight Savings Time.
Abilene is in the temperate zone north of the Tropic of Cancer. Our longest days are a bit over 14 hours and the shortest ones have around 10 hours of daylight. But in Fairbanks, Alaska, there are almost 22 hours of daylight at the Summer Solstice. And the other two hours are more "twilight" than dark.
That daylight business made an even bigger impression on me than the awe-inspiring scenery. That's an extra 8 hour day's worth of sunlight in Fairbanks at this time of year. Obviously, the tables are reversed at the Winter Solstice.
I happen to work in the tallest building in town. With willingness and time, the rising sun's drift from north to south could be charted from summer to winter. The difference is dramatic but usually goes unnoticed because half of a year elapses between the extremes.
Years ago I was able to spend a week on Mount Charleston in Nevada. We were far enough removed from civilization that we were free from "light pollution." It seemed like there were more stars than I'd ever seen. A starry night sky carries quite an emotional punch. But old Sol is so much closer that he can "shine the little stars away" when he rides his chariot across the sky.
Abilene is in the temperate zone north of the Tropic of Cancer. Our longest days are a bit over 14 hours and the shortest ones have around 10 hours of daylight. But in Fairbanks, Alaska, there are almost 22 hours of daylight at the Summer Solstice. And the other two hours are more "twilight" than dark.
That daylight business made an even bigger impression on me than the awe-inspiring scenery. That's an extra 8 hour day's worth of sunlight in Fairbanks at this time of year. Obviously, the tables are reversed at the Winter Solstice.
I happen to work in the tallest building in town. With willingness and time, the rising sun's drift from north to south could be charted from summer to winter. The difference is dramatic but usually goes unnoticed because half of a year elapses between the extremes.
Years ago I was able to spend a week on Mount Charleston in Nevada. We were far enough removed from civilization that we were free from "light pollution." It seemed like there were more stars than I'd ever seen. A starry night sky carries quite an emotional punch. But old Sol is so much closer that he can "shine the little stars away" when he rides his chariot across the sky.
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