Living in Alaska - Life in the Last Frontier

Yesterday, while standing out on my back deck, I heard mama Sandpiper ‘tweeting’ in the rear of my yard. I picked up my camera to go in search of the distressed whistles, thinking for sure she was back there distracting another animal from a chick again. Just as I passed my wildflower garden, I happened to glance up into a tree, and saw the most beautiful - and huge - great horned owl! No wonder the sandpiper was making a lot of racket. A little research on my part showed that great horned owls like to eat bunnies, rodents, and birds - among other things. Apparently, there are quite a few things on the menu - to include cats!

I crept a little closer, but didn’t  have my long lens on my camera. I managed to snap a few photos before my neighbor cranked up his 4-wheeler and frightened the owl away! I was very upset about that.

The owl looked to be almost 2′ tall, and when he flew away his wingspan was amazing. I don’t know how he managed to fly through all the trees without hitting any of them! What a gorgeous bird. I do hope that he’ll return to my yard again - when the neighbor isn’t home!

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The last time I wrote, I mentioned how hot it was.  Well, I shouldn’t have complained because it got even hotter! In fact, Wednesday was the hottest July 8th in Fairbanks since 1994. A National Weather Service meteorologist said the official temperature at the airport reached 91 degrees. It might have been 91 at the airport, but it was 93F at my house. And some folks living around town reported temps as high as 96F. It was not a comfortable day.

On top of the heat, the smoke and haze from the neighboring wildfires made it uncomfortable to have the windows open. That didn’t matter to me; I sat inside with all the windows closed and curtains drawn as I had been doing all week. It worked. The lower level temperature in my house was only 71F. Upstairs was another story at 77F. Sure beats 98F, which some of my friends were feeling! A nice, cooling rain came later on that evening - bringing lightning and thunder with it.

Thunder and lightning are extremely rare here in Alaska. I miss thunderstorms. When Steve and I lived in NC, we used to sit out on our front porch during big storms. Protected by the eaves, we’d watch the trees sway in the wind, and the gutters fill with rushing water. When we lived in FL, our apartment had a screened in balcony, and we’d do the same thing. Our apartment overlooked a huge pond with a fountain in the middle. When the storms would come, the turtles would pull themselves out of the pond and sit on the stone fountain base. I have a lot of good memories of storm watching from a safe place. I also have my share of memories of driving in bad storms, with zero visibility and hail. Those aren’t so nice.

The storm on Wednesday cooled the air a good 20 degrees. It was absolutely wonderful! When the rain stopped, I opened all the windows and blinds and enjoyed the trees swaying in the yard. There was some good sleeping weather that night.

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I was checking out my wildflower garden yesterday, and was surprised to see a huge indentation in the middle of it. The plants had been flattened by something large: moose size. It appears as if a moose or two decided that my garden was a comfortable place to take a nap. Fortunately, the plants are only bent over, and not broken, so I hope they’ll stand back up again. Honestly, the garden does look like a nice place to take a nap. The plants are so thick, I’m sure they were nice and soft under the moose. You can see the indentations here:

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Steve’s tomato and zucchini plants are doing very well. It won’t be long until he can pick his first tomato. It’s a good size but still green. We have about 8 zucchinis now too. One is fairly large, so he’ll probably be picking it soon.  It’s been neat to watch these plants grow and produce fruit.

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I finally finished installing the vinyl tile in the camper. I’m glad that job is done. It looks nice, and the darker color won’t show the dirt as much. Since we travel with the furkids, that’s important. I also shampooed the little bit of carpet in there, as well as the upholstery on the bench chairs at the dinette table. I could have knitted a new cat with the fur I took off of her favorite corner of the seat.  All that’s left now is a good cleaning and restocking of supplies, and we’ll be reading to take it out. Here’s the new floor:

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I entertained myself the other day, by photographing some of the flowers that Steve brought home to me last week. I’m surprised they’ve lasted this long, but sadly they’ll be discarded within the next day or two as they’re starting to leave petals all over the counter.

I have a set of three tiny little vases, that I bought from an online friend. Julie owned her own flower business in Southern California for twenty years before selling her stores and moving to a small farm in Idaho with her family. Now she now grows her own flowers and creates her pottery.

I wanted small vases that I could put in the camper to hold the wildflowers that Steve always picks for me when we travel. In the set that I bought, the tallest vase is about 7″, and the smaller two are about 4″. I think they’re just adorable.  You can see some of her other pottery here: http://www.farmerjulie.com/

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Tomorrow, I’m going on a roadtrip with my friend Lisa. We’re driving up the Steese Highway to Eagle Summit and beyond, in search of blooming fireweed and clear skies. Most of the drive is on gravel - but what a gorgeous drive! The Steese Hwy goes all the way to Circle, but that’s farther than we want to go.

I’m sure I’ll have photos to share.

Until next time…