Here Comes the Sun

Just an update for all of you who think I'm still living in darkness: Daylight Savings Time has done wonderful things for Bethel. We're gaining minutes of sunlight every day, and are at approximately 12 hours of light a day. It's awesome- only March and it's already light until 9p. I can't wait for June when it's light until midnight again.

I was amazed how quickly the light came upon us. I had heard that the Yup'ik word for February meant "the month between the short and long days," and that couldn't be more true. In January, we were still making our way through loooong days of darkness - the residual from December. In February, between retreat, and being home and whatnot, I wasn't around long enough to notice a difference. All I could tell was that when I got back to Bethel on February 23, I was shocked by the fact that the sun was up when I left for work and when I returned. It was like a whole new world.

Well, you should see it now. I walk to work in the sunrise light, and it's not completely dark until 9p or later. All the darkness didn't seem so bad in the midst of it, but now that we have this much light, we're ecstatic. Makes doing more in the evenings a lot easier and more inviting. Next, we just need it to warm up! We're back down to windchills in the negative 20s, after a week of balmy mid-thirties. However, break-up (when everything unfreezes) officially happens in May, so we're imagining warmer weather will begin soon enough, to prepare the frozen Kuskokwim to break by early May. Stay tuned for updates.