I am ecstatic that the sun is back in the sky. The temperature is mild with a nice breeze. And I almost feel like I could stand to be outside in nature more than the time it takes to get to my car. However, I am somewhat frustrated with the lack of nighttime. The resulting lack of sleep makes for a very tired Mariecris. But this is part of the adventure of living in Alaska and what is adventure without a little sleep deprivation. Thankfully, it hasn’t hit me till this Solstice weekend! And since Solstice has come and gone, I’m hoping that as the daylight hours get shorter I’ll be able to catch up on some much needed sleep. This is especially important because summer is our busiest time of the year, which also makes it the most exciting time as well. Instructors who are on summer vacation are able to devote time to their own research. The beautiful Alaskan summers definitely attract outside researchers to the archives! (Well, maybe it attracts them to Alaska in general… but they still come in and do research.) While the increased daylight seems to increase motivation to be productive! I have to admit that for the last two months I’ve been a lot more focused. So with some tin foil on my window and getting to bed at a decent hour, I hope to continue on with this productive streak and enjoy the summer and all its surprises! (But I still wish that summer up here didn’t mean giving up nighttime!)