Seasons!

After fifteen years of desert living, I almost forgot what it was like to experience the seasons. Here in Alaska, especially interior Alaska, the seasons change with a vengeance. Summer is short, and winter is long and harsh. And dark. The wildlife and the plants know that, so summer is like walking down the streets of New York City: everybody is in a rush but not quite sure where they’re going. Where they’re going is Fall…and then Winter again.

I arrived in Denali on April 30. There were snow patches on the ground and everything was brown and gray. Alaska welcomed us the next day with a white world. Hey, I haven’t owned snow boots for years! It continued for the rest of the first week, with temps in the daytime hovering around 40 degrees. As we snuggled in temporary quarters and crossed our fingers hoping for warmer weather so they could turn on the water in our housing, the weather teased us with warmer nights, then freezing nights again.

Suddenly in mid-May the weather warmed up and the sun came out, and we took off our jackets in the balmy 60 degree heat.

I walk up a hill to my office every morning, and I watched day by day as the bushes along the road first showed little buds, then hints of green, then bright green new growth. Now they’re in full leaf, celebrating the rain and the sun and warmth. Just to add to the celebration, wildflowers are jumping up. Yes, I mean jumping up. One day there will be a cute little flower peeking up, and the next day there’ll be a whole bouquet waiting to greet my day.

So for the next few weeks the animals and the plants will be reveling in the heat (it was 78 yesterday) and the long hours of sunlight (21 hours a day as of this writing.) They’ll be busy feeding for the winter and reproducing for next year. Then before I go I’ll see the whole process in reverse. One day the plants will start to turn orange and yellow and red. The animals will begin looking for winter quarters, and so will the seasonal workers here in Denali. The chill will be back in the air, and termination dust will start decorating the mountains. And I’ll start packing my bags to go back to what will likely still be 100-degree heat in Arizona.