Living in Alaska - Life in the Last Frontier

The new bird feeder *condo* is attracting all sorts of feathered friends since we set it up. A woodpecker has returned to sample the suet, a pair of gray jays have been stopping by, and there is a large group of smaller grayish-brown birds who tend to eat the seeds falling on the ground, rather than flying up onto the feeders. Of course the boreal and black-capped chickadees are regular visitors.

Fortunately, the squirrel population has dissipated, and all but one have gone off to claim their own territory. That one remaining squirrel antagonizes the birds, and gathers up the seeds which have fallen on the deck or the ground. Despite the fact that he’s adept at climbing the pole, he spends most of his time on the ground - or sneaking a peek through the sliding glass doors.

I’m not a birder, so I use the internet to reference the birds I’m watching. I still don’t know what these small brownish-gray birds are. If anyone reading me can identify them, I’d be quite appreciative! Here’s a close-up photo of the bird I’m referring to:

(Edited to add: It’s a Dark Eyed Junco, thanks to my friend Kathy!)

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In this journal entry, I promise to make up for the lack of photos in my last entry. I’ve taken hundreds of photos over the past several days. Every single day, the landscape seems to change. Summer is fading away, and autumn is taking hold of the leaves at the tops of the birch trees. It’s truly a beautiful time of the year - I just wish it lasted longer (or better yet; came later).

A few days ago, I stepped out front with Sedona, and watched the trees gently waving in the morning air. A slight breeze was blowing, and a few golden leaves drifted down to the ground.  I turned in place, looking above me at the beautiful blue sky.  Hanging in the sky above one of my birch trees was the moon. It was bright in the morning sky, despite its half face. Since it has been awhile since I photographed the moon, I thought I’d give it a shot. The photo at left is the result. The image is cropped from it’s original size, but I like that you can see the craters. Someday I’d love to photograph the moon using a telescope.

On Sunday, Steve and I decided to go out to breakfast and then attend a movie. His choice was the movie “Tropic Thunder” - a comedic spoof about war movies, starring Ben Stiller among others.  While it wasn’t my first choice, I hoped it would warrant a few laughs.

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It’s been a few days since I’ve written here, and that’s only because I haven’t been doing much more than running errands and preparing some of my prints and notecards for The Stash. Until today, I hadn’t even taken any photographs, since I wrote last.

However, I do have some very good news to share here!

A few days ago, I received an email from a very generous and kind-hearted gentleman, who lives down on the Kenai Peninsula.  I will refer to him as John, because I don’t know if he wants me to post his name here.

In the email, John let me know that he had won a Denali Park Pass for Saturday 13th, and wouldn’t be able to go. And…               did I want it?!!!

Well, of course you know that I had a smile from ear to ear when I read that email.  I emailed John back and told him I was interested and was willing to pay him a fair price for it. I saw passes being sold on Craigslist just after the winners were announced, but some folks were asking a fortune for them.

John didn’t want any payment - citing “This is Alaska (where we help each other) not the Lower 48.” How wonderful is that?! I have been on cloud nine ever since. Yesterday, he emailed me to let me know it was on the way.  I will truly be dancing around the living room when the pass is actually in my hands.

Steve and I haven’t quite made up our mind yet, as to whether we’re going to go down the day before and get a room and then drive in early the next morning, or if we’re just going to do the entire drive in one day. It’s do-able in one day, even though it would be a lot of driving. Two hours to the park, another 8-12 to drive the road (depending on wildlife, etc.), and two hours home.

Now, the only thing that could create any problems would be weather-related. It’s not uncommon to get snow in mid-September, and with the higher elevations in the park, snow would cause a road closure. Last year, winners were turned away on two occasions I believe.

Everyone keep your fingers crossed that all goes well!

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