20060601 Night Light

Tom Bodette for Motel 6 would end his commercial pitch with the comforting reminder that, “We’ll leave the light on for ya.” Light on or light off, it doesn’t seem to matter here in Brooks Camp three weeks before the summer solstice. Naknek Lake at nine pm may be a bit dimly lit, but the snow on Mt. LaGorce on the left and Mt. Katolinat on the right still brightly reflect the slowly sinking sun.

I’m not certain what time darkness overtakes this place, but at my usual bedtime of 11:30 or quarter of twelve I make a tent of the covers to convince myself I should sleep. I have awakened as early as 5 within the last week to a room bathed in light from the east-facing window.

You’ve heard of the winter blues that people get during long hours of darkness over many weeks? I believe I have the summer mania. I go to bed because I thing I should, not because I’m tired. I wake long before a reasonable hour, only to lie in bed thinking so as not to disturb my sleeping roommate.

I ponder the programs I have yet to write, the fresh tomatoes I crave, the small daypack I did not bring to Alaska and now need, and the item I do not need but brought: a night light.