Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Springtime in Alaska at 70° above!!!

Hello again,
It is now May 18, 2010 and SPRING is here. I have been working outside in this beautiful fresh spring green weather with the returning birds singing their hearts out. Ahhhh I love winter, but spring is lovely too. Reminds me of the poem I have on the windowsill above my desk:

"Ten thousand flowers in spring,
the moon in autumn,
a cool breeze in summer,
snow in winter.
If your mind isn't clouded by unnecessary things,
this is the best season of your life."
We-men

And it does feel like the "best season of my life."
I have been cleaning up around the place, getting ready for summer visitors. I had my first tour last week and the Cruise West guests were so refreshing and down-to-earth. We had a great morning together. The dogs were happy to meet some new friends and the weather was perfect.
Now I have a week to finish all the projects I had started and not completed, before my next tour. I also want to make an overnight trip down to Denali Park. I like to be there in May to see how the winter has left the land. "Will there still be an abundance of snowshoe hares?" "Will the moose have their calves yet?" "Will the ptarmigan be chortling from the tops of the highest spruce trees in their territories?" Oh it will be wonderful to see the land I love so much. My first 5 years in Alaska, after I moved here. I spent backpacking in the Park. I can't get out to those places anymore, but I can certainly remember the magic of carpets of windflowers on the glacial moraine, and walking in the hoof prints of caribou tracks, trails used for thousands of years.
And camping near some singing side channel of a big river, where the water was clear and perhaps a dipper would hop by, searching for insects in the water. Oh I could go on and on and on.. more than you want to read I'm sure.

My garden is mostly planted. One more trip to the green house for some flowers to fill in here and there and the place will be ready. My friends Josh and Nita built me some lovely raised beds, getting the soil up off the ground so it stays warmer and the plants thrive. AND with seats along the length so I can sit and smell the roses and weed or read or take a nap. Gardening has never been this inviting.

Most of the peonies came up again this year. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there will be blooms galore.
Well, I better get back to work, Nice to talk with you. I hope your spring is as refreshing as this one is here. By the way , the last stars are hard to find in the dusky night sky. The midnight sun will be here in a few more weeks. AND THEN it is all downhill until winter!!!!

May the Sweet Spring bloom around you.

Mary

PS. Yes it is true, I forgot how to get onto the blog, but a young man, Ryan Bowers is here helping move gravel into the dog yard, and he helped me.