Last week we celebrated Greening Time in Palmer. We’re in the thick of it now. If you look around, you can easily identify a dozen different hues and shades of green, nearly all of which were not here one month ago. Grass, leaflets, buds, leaves, fiddleheads, rhubarb, perennials, weeds, spruce, dead spruce, mosses, flower tips, stems; and all of them sport a different green color—some have more blue, more red, more yellow in the green causing an entire green color-wheel to enjoy. Even the various names of green are delicious: emerald, kelly green, avocado, celadon, verdigris, absinthe, terra verte, hunter green, mint green, sea-mist green, forest green, willow green,, hazel, fern green, artichoke green, army green, lime green, olive green, sap green and parrot green. These are just a sampling of the green family. But if you look carefully, right now, you can see all the differences. Palmer Blue might be the mascot school color but seasonal Palmer nGreen is hope, promise, life and and belief.
Browning Time—This is a new one to me. But it’s real. Looking at our rivers, we no longer see ice. The grey silty water has been replaced by thick brownish water. Therefore this is browning time. Upstream (and there is a LOT of upstream) the melt is heavy and eroding banks and bringing lots of soil and debris downstream to us. This probably accounts for the brown gravy water.
Yellow Time—This is in respect to all the yellow trash bags that line the roads thanks to our topnotch community volunteers. And yellow time is also in honor of the lowly dandelion which is beginning to burst, bravely and boldly in any sunny spot.
It’s Fire Season—Despite the green, it is Red Flag Warning Time. Just don’t burn right now. Between the winds, the low humidity and the slow green up, it makes no sense to burn. Be aware of alerts, adjust and accept that this is Fire Season in South Central Alaska.
Palmer Library Location is Open—So the temporary building at 137 E. Arctic Ave is now open from May 22 through May 26 from 10am to 2pm. They will be closed Memorial Day weekend and Monday Memorial Day. The alternate location is pretty easy to fine and conveniently near the ice cream shop, pizza shop and bike store in uptown Palmer. There is no wi-fi in the library parking lots however free wi-fi is available at the MTA events Center Ice Arena and the Train Depot parking lots. The large silver curbside drop boxes at the original library location are open 24 hours a day for return of books.
This Week in Palmer—There’s an Ice Cream Social this Friday at 11 am with author Brooke Hartman at Fireside Books. (And our wonderful bookstore has a bright new cool colored sign now which makes town seem happier.) Information about Palmer’s new Farmer’s Market is at the Matanuska Experiment Farm on May 24. There is live music, Friday Fling and racetrack action this weekend. There is a Rodeo and the Lazy Mountain Music Festival at the Alaska State Fairgrounds this weekend on May 27 and 28. It’s Valley Garden Club annual Spring Plant Sale on Saturday and this is definitely the weekend to get your seeds in the ground.
Barbara Hunt is both Palmer writer and artist. She works hard to keep the robust pulse of Palmer, Alaska. She shares the good stuff on the weekly Palmer Alaska Buzz in the Mat Su Valley Frontiersman and daily on the Palmer Alaska Buzz Facebook Group. Contact at bhunt@mtaonline.net or text 907.315.3222
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Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
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Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.