Moose, flowers - summer in Fairbanks

We've had some beautiful mornings lately, mixed in with some clouds.

Several mornings I opt to drive the back road to work. I go in early (about 5 a.m.) for my 6:30 a.m. start time. I take my time, stopping frequently to listen to birdsong or look at flowers. The camera is turned on so I can grab and shoot. And regardless of how many people tell me - and how many times I've heard it - I DO shoot through the windshield, as in these photos.


As I came down the road Monday, this guy was standing dead center in the road. He stood and looked at me for a minute or so, then slowly strolled off into the trees.

His buddy was eating on the right side of the road and didn't pay the least bit of attention to me for about two minutes. Then he too watched me for a short while before following his friend into the trees on the left.

It's always a treat to see them. These two were both relatively small, with small paddles. I'm guessing they were kicked out by mom as she perhaps had a younger one or two to care for.




Thursday was another nice day, so I thought it was a good time to do a relaxing drive again. This time, while I watched for moose, I was more focused on the wildflowers growing along the roadside.

As I took photos of flowers on the left, I caught movement on a huge dirt pile on the right. I whipped my head around to see a cross fox running up the pile. He was a good size, looked as though he was eating well. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to focus on him in part because of the door frame. However, he left me with a very peaceful and happy feeling. My dad loved foxes, and I don't see them often. So when I do see one, my thoughts automatically go to Dad. I wonder if he sent this guy to me that morning.

The wild irises have pretty much gone to seed now, but there are other flowers that brighten up the drive. 

 Fireweed is my very favorite. I love it - either alone or in a big patch.

Wild rhubarb - it looks incredibly graceful standing by the side of the road. And it can be used for drinks, or eaten or as an astringent. 

This is one of my favorites. The colors of the fireweed and vetch look so pretty with the green background. Even though it's an invasive plant not native to Alaska, the vetch adds some very nice color.

Last weekend my friend Mae and I drove out to Chatanika. I had to post a photo of the cows we saw at the historic Chatanika Gold Camp. Unfortunately, the place is no longer open and is for sale. We've had some very good brunches and lunches there.

We don't know who put them there, but there were four or five of them in the grass. Better than pink flamingos in my opinion. 

It's been warm here, but not unbearably so. I've seen a few baseball games, enjoyed the flowers and wildlife. 

There's nothing to compare to Fairbanks in the summer.

A lot of random thoughts

I've stayed pretty busy at work since my return from Arizona in June - so busy, in fact, that I missed the Midnight Sun Game for the first time in many years. I love this classic baseball game. Play starts at 10:30 p.m. and it's played entirely without artificial lights. But it was on a Thursday night and although I normally take the next day off, this year I couldn't do that. So I gave my seats to someone else for the evening. I hear they enjoyed the game, and that's what matters.

The weeks leading up to Father's Day were hard for me. It was so difficult to hear all the ads on tv giving gift ideas and realize that for the first time I wouldn't be buying a card and gift for my dad. I think of him every day and miss him so much. I would love to be able to talk with him, tell him what I spotted on my drives and hear his laugh again. I miss that I can't just call him out of the blue and ask "what was that plant that grew near the creek?" I miss his homespun humor and his wisdom.

Some mornings when the missing him is strong, I'll take the back way to the office. There are lots of wildflowers and occasionally I'll spot a moose or fox (so far this summer I've struck out on the wildlife, though, except for terns and ravens). Next to fireweed, the wild iris is one of my favorite flowers. They grow in profusion out there and I love seeing them along the road.

A couple of weeks ago my friend Mae and I had lunch at a local restaurant. We opted to eat on the deck (delicious meal, gorgeous sunny day that wasn't too hot, good company). I saw a large bird land on a pole near the far end of the deck. After a short while, it swooped down to the riverbank and returned to the pole, where it proceeded to eat whatever it had picked up. I checked with my friend, a wildlife biologist, who told me it was a dark phase, rough-legged hawk. We watched it while we enjoyed our meals. 

While we ate, we saw a number of boaters on the Chena River, a few in vessels with motors, others in canoes and kayaks. There was a small duck mostly just floating along. When a boat approached, he would swim out of the main channel of the river and wait out the boat in the grass along the side. When the boat passed, back he'd go into the river.

I went to the big July 4th celebration yesterday. Although it was cloudy and breezy, it was comfortable and it did not rain during the ceremony. I've been to some of those celebrations when temperatures were in the 80s and higher, and I was very uncomfortable. Yesterdays temps in the 50s-60s were very nice. 

I decided I would try to get a photo of the Air Force flyover. That's hard for me to do, as I'm never sure I'm fast enough. Those F-16s come in and out so fast they are hard to capture. I wasn't sure from exactly which direction they could come in, and the side I picked was wrong, so my first photo on approach only got two aircraft. My second photo got only sky. Finally, as they left the park, I got all three in the shot.

I'm a little like a kid when I see something like this (and fireworks). The celebration wasn't much different from those of the past 24 years. The speakers vary, sometimes there's no flyover and the Army provides a rifle team for salutes instead of the howitzers they used to fire. But the script has changed very little and there's still the Army band and the salute to the states, when the emcees read the name of each state and its nickname, each state followed by a rifle firing. It's very patriotic and I love it.

I decided to take a long weekend, so am off today and Friday. I've already done my shopping and will try something new today. I bought an electric pressure cooker. I'm going to cook up a pork roast and make some pulled pork barbecue. I'm looking forward to it. I also plan to make lots of soup this winter. I'm a soup lover and can't wait to try some of the hearty recipes I've found. When I was growing up, my grandmother used her pressure cooker frequently. I remember the enticing aromas in her kitchen - especially beef - and the delicious, tender meat that came out of it. 

Mae and I are all set for our train trip to Denali National Park in September. We used to go in May, but I prefer the September trips. The fall colors are gorgeous and it's a good way to end the summer.

It's a beautiful sunny morning here, with the thermometer saying about 50 degrees. I think maybe I'll put Buddy in the car and go to the car wash. He'll enjoy the ride and the car will enjoy the shine.

Happy July everyone. I hope your summer is filled with fun.