Last Days of September

  Pioneer Peak Viewed from front deck at the house

 We woke up Saturday to the snow level at about 500 feet.  Thankfully it didn't take long for the sun to melt it all away.  After dealing with a few house chores, Bryant and I decided to head to the property.  He built a woodshed at the house; all we needed was wood to fill it up.  

King Fisher Lake

It turned out to be a nice weekend.  We enjoyed an evening canoeing on King Fisher Lake, which is about 100 feet from our property line on Mat-Su Borough land and an evening fire with an almost full moon.  Although the frost was heavy in the morning, that eventually melted away and we brought back a truckload of wood to the house.  Now, all that is left is the fun part:  splitting and stacking! 

Fall Reflections

Rain, Flooding, and More Fall Colors

Driving into Palmer Friday morning, we noticed flashing lights along the Old Glenn Highway in the Butte (the small community between our house and Palmer and also where I teach).  Although it was dark, we could see water where it shouldn't be.  After dropping the kids off and getting in my morning run, I made my way over there to take some pictures.  There has been a lot of rain lately and the braided, unpredictable Matanuska River has been eating away at the bank.  The course of the river is shifting and unfortunately a couple houses have been taking the hit.    

 

Old Glenn Highway House

 A little cabin on this property was already lost to the river a few weeks ago and the house itself is now in danger. Once the river jumped the bank, water started flowing in all kinds of places water hasn't been in the last 40 years.

The bike path from the Butte to Palmer

After school, I walked the river trail behind our house to see what was going on with the Knik River. While it is running higher than normal, it is still contained in its banks.   

Knik River viewed from the River Trail

Even though it has been windy and rainy this fall, it hasn't been cold.  There has only been one day of frost, and I think that is why the fall colors seem to be hanging on a little longer than normal. 

A nearby pond

Shadows and Snow on the Mountains

Mostly Cloudy with the Flavor of Fall



Cottonwood Trees by Man-Made

Lake, Knik River, Alaska

Dark mornings, the color on the trees, frost on the windshield, and moose and caribou antlers sticking up in the back of pick-up trucks passing by are all indicators that the season is changing.  Alaska's short lived fall season has arrived.  Now it's a matter of squeezing in a few more outdoor activities between the raindrops before the snow arrives.    



Sunny in Seward

Sailboats in the Seward Harbor

 Every fall, Sailing Inc. in Seward puts on a boat show.  People have the opportunity to walk through different boats and afterward there is a BBQ.  Two years ago we went and enjoyed seeing the different layouts of the various boats.  When we saw that this year's show came with a couple of forecasted days of sunshine, we decided to make our way down there. 

Resurrection Bay, Seward, Alaska

It turned out to be a nice weekend.  We camped on the beach, walked through some boats, enjoyed some good food, met people in the sailing community, and now it is off to another busy week of work. 

Observing Details in Nature

I was walking around on the sphagnum moss near the pond at our property and a slight movement caught my eye.  At first I thought it was a spider.  When I moved a few plants around, I saw this wood frog that was about the size of a quarter. 

The wood frog is the only amphibian in Southcentral Alaska, and it isn't very often that I run across them. Maybe most of them don't like 7 months of winter and stay as far south as they can. 

While we were hauling wood and clearing brush, I saw this arrangement of mushrooms on a standing birch tree.  I'm not sure what kind of mushroom it is, but I thought it looked pretty cool. Maybe since there wasn't anything big to take pictures of like bear or moose, I had to look at the little details in nature that were worthy of a picture or two.