I've lived in Finland for most of my 40-odd years but I can never get over how weird the nightless nights feel at the beginning of every summer.
It's 3am and this is as about as dark as it gets. That just ain't right, it ain't natural. Makes a person wish for thicker curtains
I was in Anchorage two years ago in August. The temperatures were wonderful and the place is beautiful but the sun never setting was so strange. Very unsettling to be walking home at 10 PM, in a deserted area that felt kind of dangerous but it’s as bright as sunset.
Finn here, hello! I saw Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds at Pori Jazz 2018. They were the last act of the day, starting a bit after midnight, I believe. Cave remarked something along these lines:
"It's the middle of the night & I can see everyone clearly. This is fucking horrifying."
I'm Norwegian and I love the fact it doesn't get properly dark, it can be so beautiful outside during the constant twilight. Also the fact the sun is up until 22:41 (as of 16.06.2023, I check the weather pages that list this.) This is one reason I don't want to change the daylight savings. Then we could rather stay on summer time, so we don't have to adjust all the clocks. But that's another discussion. If we were on winter time the sun would go down as early as 21.41 today :(
This is what it’s like in Alaska, though it doesn’t stay this bright until July. I welcome all the daylight after making it through the 5 hours we get a day during the winter.
Some people can’t stand it. I love it, but I’m a night owl so it fits me fine.
What region of Finland is this? I thought those really long sun days were only in Lapland. I'd love to visit Finland some day
Helsinki, so as south as you can get. We don't get "proper" midnight sun here since the sun actually sets, but as you can see it doesn't exactly get dark either.
In Lapland, the sun stays above the horizon all the time. In southern parts, it’s still just barely below the horizon. Even in Helsinki, there won’t be a completely dark night, given the weather is clear, for like the next two or three weeks.
Isn't it nice though? I love it, it's like waking up after several months of darkness during the winter! Suddenly you feel alive again!
Can you tell that I don't live winters?
I'm not as far north as you, but we don't get dark until 11 pm here. I get what you mean, it's weird, and I'm still not really use to it, even though we're comparable in age. It's worse with little kids who don't like to sleep because it's bright outside, and therefore they could be playing with their friends.
But it gets corrected in winter with neverending night. I'm not quite as far north as you, here the longest day of the year goes from about 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. or so. But then winter comes and it's dark at 8 a.m. and dark again at 4 p.m.
I was in the north of Norway recently, and it was really weird how my sleep cycle was completely disturbed by the continuous light. I'd think it would get easier if you live there for a long time but apparently no?
Hasn't gotten easier for me at least 😅 The only time I'm up at 3am is summer.
Both summers and winters here remind me of the fact that I'm still an animal that has some deeply wired in reactions to sunlight.
It's funny yesterday it was almost 9 in New York state and I was looking out my windows thinking how bright it is for so late but at least it gets dark by 9 in the summer.
I kinda feel like we have a nice balance at this latitude. Long long days but we still get a night.
Whenever I visit family in Puerto Rico it always felt strange to me that even on the summer the sun is down by 6. Makes the summer feel less special
Yeah the amount of light you get around NY / Montreal feels pretty ideal. I love long summer nights but this is just ridiculous. My poor brain needs some darkness too
I have blackout curtains but somehow my brain isn't fooled and I've been sleeping very little as a result.
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