Sunday, June 10, 2012

Long Summer Days


This was the view from our balcony last night about 10 p.m. Doesn't that mysterious cloud look like it's heralding the arrival of a huge spaceship a la "V" or "Independence Day"? You can see how long the days last at this time of year. Even at 10 p.m., there's plenty of light in the sky. The sun goes down for a few hours and then it begins getting light again around 4 a.m., with sunrise about 45 minutes later.

Maybe people from other northern climes won't find this unusual, but I'm impressed -- so much daylight.

Our flat has big thick drapes which we usually never close, but about a month ago we realized that at this time of the year, we need to close them -- at least in our bedroom!

Lots of kids live in the surrounding apartments, and they loudly play games in the parking lot and on the grass until it gets dark. Our neighbors once asked us if we mind them -- and in fact, I heard one woman yelling at them one night: "Stop f*cking screaming! Christ, every f*cking night!" But they don't bother me. I think it's great that they're outside playing games with each other. And you know, not one of those kids is overweight!

3 comments:

Elizabeth said...

It's been so long since I've been that far north but still remember how long it took to get dark in Amsterdam -- I think it was nearly midnight in the summer, and it felt so strange --

Linda Sue said...

I love hearing kids play- that woman could invest n ear plugs instead of being such a ...BUGGER! It is light up here in the PNW until after 10:00. Light but not sunny- hardly EVER! That cloud is amazing- magic!

Ms.M said...

You know last night at 9:00pm it was full light outside my house too. I live in the Midwest now and the sun is almost always down by then. It was pretty odd but very spectacular.

M