Alaskan Daily Digest - Oh what a beautiful morning ...

Fall is my favorite time of year. My birthday is in early October and growing up, I used to love it when it started getting chilly outside because I knew that Fall was here, and soon it would be my birthday. Now, I am 45 (gosh, did I just tell the whole world that?!) and birthdays don't excite me nearly as much as they used to, but I most certainly still love Fall. I love the colors of nature and the crispness in the air. I used to think I knew what crisp was while growing up in Ohio (a nice morning when it's in the 50's outside). I have to say Alaska has it's own "crispness" and it comes a lot earlier, like right now.

In Alaska, Fall comes in early September. It is a time to gather those last veggies from the garden, to go to the state fair in Palmer and see the giant vegatables, to wake in the morning and see your breath when you step outside (with no coat on mind you because, after all, this is Alaska), and to see moose walking through our yard. Fall is the rutting season when boy and girl moose get together and make littles mooses (moose, meese, mice?).

Here are a few images captured around Wasilla this past week, ushering in fall.


Two bull moose "sparring" over a lady, no doubt, in the Hillside area of Anchorage in someone's driveway. This photo is from the Anchorage Daily News taken by Richard J. Murphy


This is a cow moose in our driveway that walked right by our kitchen door while we were eating dinner the other night. She was watching us as we were photogrphing her. She proceeded that evening to eat half my flower bed (you know, I think they have meetings in the dark of night to conspire against me - yes, I STILL have moose issues)


Fall also means - Fungi! I saw someone mushroom picking not long ago. This is fungi growing on a tree on our new property in Delta Junction, Alaska. This thing was the size of my hand and growing about 5 feet off the ground on the side of a tree.


This is a glacier near Paxson, Alaska. Paxson is a fun snowmachining area, a favorite spot of the Palin family, and where they got the idea for Trig's middle name. It is one of the most beautiful parts of the state.


You see a lot of this in the fall - clouds woven through mountains. They look like cotton just laid out. It's one of my favorite things to see and photograph. This is near King Mountain on the Matanuska River downstream from Matanuska Glacier off the Glenn Highway.


This is what inspired me this morning. I was driving to work and saw a hot air balloon rising over Wasilla Lake. This is where we have our tea parties and where we gathered on July 4.


Another shot on Wasilla Lake. Both of these were taken with what I call my "B" camera, a little point and click I keep handy for quick shots. I wish I'd had my Cannon with me! I hope you've enjoyed them.