Sunsets

June 10. - Whitehorse, Yukon Territory

Sunsets - Sunsets are a different thing here than I've come to expect.  Living my whole life between 40 and 50 degrees north latitude, I've come to expect certain things from the sunrise and sunset.  generally there is a sweet hour before rise, and after set when the light is great for photography.  Generally, once you identify that the sun is setting, you can find a comfortable spot and watch it go, from day to dusk, from dawn to day.  Enough time for a quick mediation, or appreciation of the day, and whamo, the sun is gone, and there is just after glow left behind.  Not so, here in the northern latitudes. The sun hangs around on the horizon near the end of the day, like a guest unwilling to say goodbye after a great day of fellowship.  Instead of going up, or coming down, the sun seems to skid sideways at the brackets of the day, staying above the horizon until after 10 at night and rising again while I am still deep in sleep. Instead of rising or setting, the sun is Angled low, and seems to follow the horizon, at an angle asymptotic to its appointed departure from the day. Then, the sky keeps a low glow, but not a rose, like a pale gray hour after hour - at my two test awakenings, still glowing pale well after midnight.  How's a tourist supposed to see the northern lights under these conditions?