Sunrise and Sunset

Many people have asked us about the length of the daylight here. On the first day of school, Aug. 22, sunrise was at 6:26 a.m. and sunset was at 9:37 p.m. It was bright when my high schooler went to school at 6:45 a.m. and kids stay out and play late into the evening. The philosophy here is "make the most of the sunlight while we have it". Regular bedtimes and dinner times seem to be tossed out the window while kids and adults stay outside as long as possible. Today is Oct. 4th and we have now been here for almost 6 weeks. The sun rises at 8:14 a.m. today and sets at 7:21 p.m. The day is almost 3 1/2 hours shorter than it was when we arrived. It is crazy!! By Christmas we are expected to have just under 5 1/2 hours of light between sunrise and sunset...mind you that close to sunrise and sunset the sky is not bright so the actually daylight is more like 4 hours according to our neighbors. But, when the sky is clear here, the sunrises and sunsets can be really spectacular. The first shot attached was taken from our front porch to the east of our house at sunrise in early September. The second picture was taken from our back deck toward the west. I think they are both amazing pictures of two times of the day here. Remember, though, the clouds have to cooperate. This is a really rainy, overcast time of the year so often you wake to clouds in the morning so the sunrises are harder to see. As the day wears on, the sun usually comes out and the clouds lift for amazing views around us.