The sun! Its everywhere!

During the summer solstice the sun rises in Iqaluit at 2:20am.  Luckily, we are two months past that so sunrise is slightly later.  Today it rose at 4:10am. (Author's note: I actually wrote this post about two weeks ago, so the sun is rising even later now.)

When the sun rises this early, especially for families with small children at home, people get very creative with blocking out the light. Driving around town you see houses with every window covered with blankets, fabric, blinds, etc.  Some people have even resorted to using tinfoil.

Tinfoil window treatment. Wonder if anyone has suggested
 this for a story on Houzz?

In all honesty, I'm not sure if this house is deserted
 or if this was done to block the sun......

Before we left I decided to pick up a bunch of $8 disposable paper blackout blinds from Walmart. (They got packed in a very long box with DJ's hockey stick and put on the flight with us). Not knowing exactly how big the windows were, I just bought the biggest blinds available.  Since the blinds are paper, you can cut them to whatever size you need.  They certainly aren't perfect. For one thing, they stick to the window frame with double-sided tape.  I've read reviews where people have complained that they fall down, though I've never had an issue with that. Also, they are a real pain to "roll up" or "fold up" during the day (the paper is like an accordion).  That's not a huge issue now, but in the winter we are going to cherish those few daylight hours.  My current plan is to just take them down when the sun starts rising after 8am or so, then put up new ones in the spring.  (They are not re-usable as the tape won't re-stick.)

DJ with the blackout blinds.  Thanks WalMart!

The first room I "sun-proofed" was Coraline's.  Two blackout blinds, plus the curtains the homeowner left behind, and her room is almost completely dark even during the day.  Perfect!

Coraline's brown curtains with black blackout blinds.
Not exactly stylish, but she's able to sleep well past sunrise.

DJ's room was a little different. His window is round at the top, and I wasn't quite sure how to tackle that with my paper blinds.  Would they stick to the wall above the window rather than the window frame? (Turns out: no. They fall down and are not long enough anyway.)  I also discovered a big long lump of fabric on top of the curtain rod. I almost removed it thinking it was some kind of lining to go behind the curtains, until I realized there already WAS a liner behind the curtains.  Then I clued in: it was there to block the light above the rod.  It doesn't do a great job (grommet-top curtains that let light in through every hole would never block the sun), but DJ is a deep sleeper.  As long as it is dark enough in the evening that he can fall asleep, it would almost take an explosion to wake him up early.

Light-blocking fabric lump.

Champion sleeper.

Thank you to everyone who responded to my pleas for feedback last post. This blog ultimately is meant to be a record of our adventures for my family, but I always appreciate knowing that there are others out there who find it interesting.  (It would feel kinda sad to think my posts are just floating out there with no one reading until my kids look into them years from now.) So whether you got in touch via email, blog feedback, Facebook, text, etc., I appreciated hearing from all of you! For everyone lurking silently in the background the verdict is in: I'll keep posting at the current rate I've been posting.  You lost your chance to complain.

Up next: music concert? Is it possible to capture Inuit throat-singing through photos?  Stay tuned to find out if I even attempt it....