PART 3 -- NEW YEAR'S EVE 1918
ROCKWELL KENT WILDERNESS CENTENNIAL JOURNAL 100 YEARS LATER by Doug Capra © 2018 Part 3 - New Year’s Eve 1918 NOTE -- Beginning in late July 1918 as Kent headed west with Rockie toward Alaska, the days grew shorter. By the time he settled on Fox Island in late August, the daily light loss became more noticeable, especially with the rain and cloud cover. Through November and December, while Kent experienced his depression and nightmares, the shortest day of the year approached. He struggled to paint due to the darkness, focusing his artistic energies composing black and white sketches and pen and inks by candle light inside the cabin. He did experience a few sunny days and took advantage of them painting outside – but the sun moved so quickly as it set behind the Aialik Peninsula that he had to work deliberately and quickly. Now – in early January -- we’re gaining more that 2 ½ minutes of light a day. By February we’ll add more than 30 minutes a week. As I write