It's 5:30am (still on the "ish" scale) and I guess 7 hours is all the sleep I'm going to get. No complaints. I look outside and see the Chamber of Commerce's worst nightmare - rain.
Today is a BIG DAY is Fairbanks - the Summer Solstice - a celebration of The Midnight Sun. We hear people greeting each other. "Happy Solstice". It's a big deal (and, to be honest, it's why we are here at this time). The town crackles with enthusiasm for all the visitors and activities. There was a huge 10k Fun Run yesterday that ended at midnight to begin the day of the Midnight Sun. And of course, as I have chronicled elsewhere on this page, the day ends with the 103rd Annual Midnight Sun Baseball Game which starts at 10:30pm and continues through midnight - all with no artificial stadium light. (The sun skirts just below the horizon, "setting" at about 12:45am and rising again after a nap shorter than I usually take.) In the meantime, there are activities everywhere celebrating the spectacle of this far northern site. As always, the beauty of the earth is the main story here, humans just get to participate occasionally. And that means if it rains on Fairbanks' big day, so be it. This grand old town has seen much tougher conditions than a day of drizzle!
And the Smith Family will enjoy it as well. We'll enjoy another Alaskan breakfast somewhere, then visit University Baptist Church where I'll give a brief accounting for what I've been up to for 40 years, then off to lunch at Pike's Landing and the Midnight Sun Festival downtown this afternoon. Rain or shine, it's a beautiful thing to spend another day in Fairbanks.
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