Alaska

Many people including myself dream of coming to Alaska. The wide open spaces and beautiful scenery entangle ones mind in a captivating picture reminiscent of a Discovery Channel special. The truth is, they’re right. There are wide open spaces and there is beautiful scenery and an amazing time can be had but there are some interesting anecdotes about Alaska that don’t often get the limelight. And, you betcha, I’m going to let you in on a few of those.

First let me preface this by saying that I am not here on pleasure, rather I’m on business which makes the trip different in many respects. One of the beauties of coming on business after March 22 is the massively and rapidly expanding number of daylight minutes. Here in Fairbanks, the day length grows by as much as 7 minutes per day in the springtime. That translates to 49 minutes more sunlight when you leave than when you arrive if you’re here for a week. I would say this is beneficial but it has its drawbacks.

The mind is not meant to stay awake all the time. Our bodies are designed to have a circadian rhythm which drives us to maintain periods of sleep and wake. One of the big triggers for sleep is darkness. Of course someone reading this might say then why do people stay up late or how do people work night shifts. That’s a simple answer, intelligence. We have the ability to mentally escape the physiological encumbrances of our body and by opposing we force ourselves to remain awake well past when the signals for sleep arrive. Our body will retaliate at some point though and require sleep if we push the envelope too far. But I digress, back to the original point. The long hours trick your body into a quandary over time. As some friends stated yesterday, you start the sunny season going to bed at normal times, but as the summer progresses you tend to find yourself up for longer and longer hours. It is not unusual when the sun is up to look at your watch at midnight and say “crap I didn’t know it was that late” and head to bed. Your body was not getting the signals which tell you it’s time for sleep. And of course the opposite will be true in the winter when there is no light. So as my friend yesterday said, you sleep all winter and stay up all summer. Perhaps the bears have it right after all.

More to follow.