Super Sunrise, Sunset

So this was several weeks ago, but I am struggling with "to blog or not to blog." Everything is longer here...

long summer days

long winter nights

longer time to wash my dishes

longer time to do laundry

which leads me to long time for things to upload on the internet...so I just avoid it.

Like all things we procrastinate and the work load just piles on. And I don't want to think of blogging as a chore, but it can be just that sometimes. I had a conversation with a friend today who decided to just stop. She doesn't have the internet in her dry cabin so she goes to the University to use theirs and well, it's just kind of a pain. She also decided that she would rather tell her stories in person to her family and future generations and not write them down. Now, I have a journal but have been slacking on it. I think documenting your personal history is so vital that I have recommitted myself to not only journalling but blogging as well. I am having this crazy experience that quite frankly not very many people choose to have. I am more and more certain each day that this is where we are supposed to be and I am having these challenges for a reason and by golly I better write them down before

one: I forget them

B: so people will stop thinking I'm crazy and

thirdly for my own sanity...I just said by golly in that last sentence

So on that note let's talk about the sun that never sets. Currently it is 9 PM and seriously it could be noon o'clock with a little overcast right now. It's a bit hard to get used to, I find that I don't need as much sleep as I usually do. I fall asleep fine at night, but the walls are thin (non-existant) so we hear Charlie every time she has a bit of a fit at night and I will wake up. There are usually a few panic wake ups in the middle of the night by one or all of us. One of us will jolt awake, reach for the clock only to find that it's 1AM. I usually like these jolt wakes cause when it would happen in CA, your alarm would be set for 6 AM and you would frantically wake up at 5:55. I would be so ticked when that would happen, what I wouldn't give for that extra 5 minutes of sleep. So I love waking up to find that it's only 1 AM and I have a whole night ahead of me. AHHHHH.

Anyhoo, each day we are losing 7 minutes of daylight. Which is making people panic around here. Now instead of talking about getting ready for Solstice everyone is preparing for the winter. More on that later...back to Solstice. Jim wanted to do a midnight hike so we woke Charlie up a little before midnight to head to a hiking spot Jim had heard about "Angel Rock". Now I was under the impression that it was relatively close, but it took us a good hour and a half to get there and start hiking. Charlie was in good spirits, just hangin out in the car looking out the window with a little dazed face.

We wrapped her in our carrier and off we went. It really was quite beautiful, the sun was setting (sorta) it was perfectly light outside, kinda like dusk. Stopped to take a few quick pictures.

Uhhhh, where's the baby?

Charlie was getting a little restless (who could blame her) so we didn't make it to the top and back, but we had a good time and really I can't say enough about the view.

The sky was pink pink pink pink pink. And not just any pink it was bright hot pink. So beautiful, we couldn't take out eyes off the sky. It was like it was on fire. Of course the photos do not even do it a lick of justice. I think I even said that it wasn't worth it to take a picture, but I had to.

As we were driving away Jim said look out your rear view mirror and this was the sight. It just took over the sky. It was 3AM when we finally left and it was now sunrise. So gorgeous, I am so glad that we stayed up and saw it. It would have been so easy to have gone for the hike earlier in the day, but the tiredness that was the next day was worth it.

Happy Summer Solstice!!