Sleepy season

As a friend put it, "when you live in Alaska (or anywhere in the far north), you finally realize that the Earth is a round object". The extreme change in seasons is wonderful, but the change in daylight is almost painful. It's hard to sleep during summer because it's too light out, it's hard to stay awake during winter because it's too dark. As we move toward the winter solstice I find the time I arrive at work gets later and later. It's just too difficult to get up before the sun rises, which nowadays is close to 10:00 am... Luckily I won't get "fired" for showing up late, as long as the work gets done it doesn't matter when and where I work.

It seems most everybody here suffers from SAD (seasonal affective disorder) to some degree. I wasn't prepared my first year here. I didn't realize how much the light was affecting me until spring came and I felt so good! Every year since then has been a little better, but the darkness isn't necessarily something you can get used to. Some people that have lived here their whole lives have a lot of trouble dealing with the darkness. The key seems to be staying active and getting out to enjoy the precious daylight hours, no matter what the temperature. Without much snow that can be difficult; this winter has gotten off to a slow start, but we finally have enough snow for cross-country skiing. I ski to school most of the winter, which takes about 35-40 mins each way. It's a long trip, but I think I'm happier for it. Besides, where else in the world can you ski to work?