Fall Approaches

Clear blue sky, puffy white clouds and a crisp cool morning. I am afraid that fall is approaching rapidly. We woke up to 35.4 degrees outside and 53 degrees inside a few days ago - brrr.... When the clouds dissipate and the sky is clear the temperatures plummet. Out came the down comforter again and away went the summer blanket and bed spread. When I walked to Stellar Jay, I noticed that all of the fireweed blossoms are to the top of the stalk. Depending on which "old wives tale" you believe, we could either have six weeks until fall or six weeks until the first snow. Of course, we are hoping for the former. Bob keeps saying that we are out of here when the first snow flake falls.
I have been working diligently thinning the garden at Wild Rose, moving perennials to the small flower garden at Stellar Jay and other spots around the chalets. The columbine have finally peaked and, except for one or two still blossoming, the daisies are the only flowers still in bloom. It seems like it was a very short growing season, but maybe that is normal for Alaska. We have noticed that the sun is setting earlier every evening and our nights are now darker from about 11:00 PM to around six am. The birds, rabbits and squirrels are all very active - must be stocking up for the long winter months. We walked to the post office yesterday, and in just a few days some of the fireweed has gone to seed. They pollinate just like dandelions and the air was full of soft floating "cotton like" seeds. It is actually amazing how quickly it happened. We have been waking up to dense fog every morning this week which has been hovering until mid or later part of the morning. Because of that, we have not heard the float planes taking off on Upper Trail Lake quite as early. They are usually up and going early in the morning taking fisherman to remote lakes for camping and fishing or just taking people on tours. Bob would like to do that before we leave. I'm not quite sure about going up in a little bitty plane. I'll have to think about that.