Northern Apex

The girls and I were admiring the full moon on the way back from a hockey game in Wasilla Saturday night and wished we had a camera. Luckily, The Anchorage Daily News did a fantastic job of capturing the scene for us, complete with float plane.

That two weeks of transition weather we call fall in Alaska is upon us and you only have to watch the snowline march down the mountains to know that winter is not far away. It is a time for reflection as we leave another summer behind and make plans for next year. The steelhead are running in the Anchor River until pan ice shuts down the fishery in late November, a sure sign of the changing seasons.

How different our seasonal preparations have become - we stabilize the gas in the lawn mower, change the oil on the snowblower, and maybe change the tires over on our cars. After one last look at the lawn to make sure there is nothing there we will be looking for in February, we make sure our library card is at hand and we're ready for winter. It's easy to forget the mighty force of nature when comfort is just a touch of the thermostat away - it is a good time to pause on the road to the apex and give thanks for all we have and keep all those far less fortunate in our prayers as winter approaches.