Daylight Hours (Fairbanks, College, Sunrise: school, college, closing)

[Tressa]

Oh so true, the summers are to die for. The winters are another story altogether. We use to be very active in the winter months with snow machining and such, now we are older and ready to become snow birds and will never give up our Alaska. Once Alaska is in your blood it stays there and you can never rid your self of the love for Alaska.

[rotorhead]

I suspect all Alaskans are subject to FSAD to some degree...fishing season affliction disorder. Its the perfectly rational response to long summer days and long winter nights. Its victims do their best to play all summer, while sleeping all winter.

The perfect Alaskans are actually the bears. They get to pig out all summer long and then just hibernate till the sun comes back.

[FishTAxi]

I put orange blankets and cloths on my windows in the summer. Makes for a soft glow in my place. In the winter I put up strings of lights inside for a soft glow in my place.

[Rance]

I have only one curtain in my entire house. It's my bedroom window. The excess light does not bother me at all. Of course I've lived here all my life...and I keep long weird hours anyway. Just work till you drop...you'll have no trouble sleeping!

[guvjim]

Originally Posted by Magnum Mike

I don't live in Alaska, and I'm sure others have asked you about this before, but I'm wondering how you folks, especially in the northern extremes of the state, handle the long daylight hours in the summer, and the very short daylight hours in the winter? I'm a native of Arizona and I've lived here most of my life (except the 1 year I lived in Oregon) and it would be a little tough for a native of lower latitudes to get used to the drastic differences in daylight hours.

I also have never been in Alaska before, but I wouldn't mind visiting sometime in the near future.

When I was there in the 50s we had tracks in the windows with black blinds that pulled down and locked in place. It really helped to block out the daylight and a guy could get some sleep. Winter, of course wasn't any problem. I think I slept too much in the winter. There were times when I first went there that I thought I might have some kind of sleeping disorder because it was winter when I went and I was so lethargic that I didn't seem to have energy for anything, so I think summer and winter really do impact a person.

[DannyL]

Long daylight hours in the summer, and short in the winter, can mess with your head if you let it.
But you adapt, and get used to it. It's just a matter of adapting your "cycles".

[pw72]

Here's what is funny...those who try to keep regular hours in Alaska have problems. One is the sun beating into your bedroom window at 10:30 pm in the summer. The other is the sound of kids playing outdoors at the same time...someone once explained that most parents let the kids stay out as long as the sun is up in Alaska!

Memory: walking into a club around 1 am with the sun just setting, then leaving that same club at around 3 am with the sun just rising!

Of course, the opposite in the winter. Memory: waking up at 8 am in complete darkness, turning on the tv and watching an NFL game, I think from Denver, in bright sunshine!

The way the time zone is set up the winter mornings are the worst. Darkness in December till 9am, then a slow sunrise around 10. Wow.

[AK Karen]

Mike,
Having grown up in upstate NY and lived 20+ years in Seattle, when I moved to Alaska I was worried about the impact of the short winters and lack of daylight. But I work full time and start work before the sun rises, and leave work just as it is setting, which is just about like it was when I lived in Seattle. And once it snows, the brightness of the non-daylight hours can be bright enough to see quite a bit.
It is the long summer hours that take some getting used to. I find that most people keep going as long as there is light and we wonder why we are starving and then realize we haven't had dinner yet although it is 10pm. One of my workmates was delighted by the ability to work an 8 hour shift, and get 18 holes of golf in before sunset. My favorite period of the year is between June 4th and July 4th when it doesn't get darker than dusk, and the sun rises in the north and sets in the north. I read somewhere that Alaska has more fatal car accidents during the summertime when the days are long than we have in the wintertime when we drive in the snow. People don't realize how tired they are and keep driving and fall asleep at the wheel and many tourists bring or rent large RVs and are driving on unfamiliar roads with spectacular scenery or wildlife to distract them. After living here it is always a disappointment to vacation elsewhere in the summer and be "shortchanged" those extra hours of daylight.

[breezey514]

Do the sunlamps with Seasonal Affective Disorder in the winter? I'm from Indiana and by Feb I am so cranky and blah that I can hardly stand it. Thinking of bringing a sunlamp up north when I come.

[icarian]

I envy those of you that think the summer is the hard season to get used to. Winter light level dragged this time around for me. I do stay up alot in the summer...but I wouldn't consider it a problem Live for the White Mountains in the summer.

Just wish my cats would go on and adapt to the summer light levels. They are already waking up at 0445-0500ish thinking we are late providing breakfast...and they let us know it