Sunrise...Sunset

7/4/09...Sunrise today 5:13am, Sunset today 9:15. One of the more interesting things about living in the Pacific NW is how long the days are leading up to the summer solstice. A few weeks ago we were having sunsets at 9:30PM...now that's a long day. I first witnessed this phenomenon during a visit to Yellowstone Nat'l Park in 1981. We were moving from California to South Dakota and stayed a few nights at this beautiful park...and it was still light out after 9PM! I'm sure Bob gave me the scientific reasoning at the time (something about being farther North), but I just remember thinking it was cool.

Now, we are getting to experience this every day. And, it still feels cool to look out at the sky and see blue at 9PM. Of course the downside is that the days are very short around the winter solstice, with it being dark by 4:30PM...that can drive some people nuts! Ah, well, for me it just represents the the ying and yang of it all. And one bright spot come next winter...I won't be waking up at 5Am thinking it feels like 7! Hopefully, we stay awake for fireworks tonight...we will need some darkness for that. Happy 4th of July to all.