Every summer, brightness envelops this country for twenty-four hours. It's not easy to determine when day has ascended except by looking at the clock. As the day progresses, sunshine becomes more intense, the translucent sky turns to deeper blue as clouds clear away.
The day advances surreptitiously while people go about their daily summer activities, unaware that evening has long arrived. It is the warm amber glow of the setting sun that heralds the presence of the night. The sun lingers just above the horizon before it finally descends, but not so low that it withholds its brightness. It lies there all night long, bestowing this part of the earth with luminance that eats up the darkness. Activities go on uninterrupted right up to midnight. And then the people go to sleep in the brightness of the night.
Brightness peaked during midsummer (June 26), after which the night slowly goes back to its normal darkness, so slowly and imperceptibly that one doesn't notice it. Night time is still bright even now, though not as luminous as the midsummer nights. Soon, before anyone realizes it, darkness will have taken its rightful place. And summer starts to fade away.
a view from our dining room window at 9:30 p.m.
where the sun sets at around 9:30 p.m., as seen from our back porch
a few steps away from our unit, same time
swallows still playing blithely under the bright night sky
sunlight-illuminated lake at 11:30 p.m.
I love my first summer in this part of the north pole, which is home for me now.
No comments:
Post a Comment