Autumn in Palmer

In Palmer we are living in Autumn now. This seems to be everyone’s favorite season.

It Looks like fall—It is a ridiculously beautiful time of year. There are the incredible colorful tapestry of the green grasses, the bright yellow leaves, the red berries and fireweed stems, the amber colored hillsides, the brownish-gold mountains, the bits of snow on the grey granite peaks and the bluest of skies blessed with a shocking variety of of white clouds. I don’t know anyone who isn’t annually thrilled by the magnificent beauty of this Alaskan season.

It Smells like fall—The earthy decomposition of plants along with the collection of soggy leaves, exhaling gases as they rot, with their last gasps of breath. There is the smell of the sweaters and wooly socks coming out of drawers and closets and storage and the smell of snow tires ready to be changed. Odor driven memories surface and fuel unbridled retrospect. It’s an amazing thing how smells bring up nostalgia.

It feels like fall—It’s hard to explain the melancholy which can manifest so easily in the fall. Perhaps it is the obvious change that is happening. We are definitively saying goodbye to the easy summer season. There is anxiety about preparing for winter with all the chores and challenges. The earlier and earlier daily darkness casts an anxious spell on our internal time-clocks and associated mood.

It is all these very vibrant emotions and observations which make autumn so poignant and so beautiful you could cry. Death seems close. Less light triggers change and anxiety. The beauty of the season is extreme and symbolic.

Palmer prepares for winter in 62 easy steps—You asked for it and here it is…the perennial Palmer Pre-Winter Chore list. This is a local crowd -sourced and annually amended Palmer Buzz Prep list!

• Moose-proof young trees or shrubs

• Collect seed pods from perennials

• Put away the patio furniture.

• Put flower pots into storage

• Pull off screens, wash and store.

• Pick up wayward tools and put away

• Pull hoses and turn off interior valves

• Touch up painting

• Get out holiday lights and hang before darkness covers the earth.

• Rake leaves and put in flower bed

• Get out bird feeders, hang and fill

• Unload shed, remove snow tires, refill shed

• Pick apples and last berries

• Dig last potatoes and cut the Brussel sprouts

• Dig the Dahlia and lily bulbs; plant the daffodil, tulip and crocus bulbs.

• Forage for last mushrooms

• Hide golf clubs

• Find snow shovels and scrapers

• Mow last time

• Buy antifreeze

• Get out snow gear for car emergencies.

• Set up vehicle for winter needs

• Clean gutters

• Determine snow storage area

• Flag snow storage area

• Purchase airplane ticket

• Collect seed pods

• Pre-dig pet graves….just in case.

• Unhook and drain hoses; turn off outside water spigot

• Button up greenhouse

• Winterize motorhome

• Drink more wine

• Make applesauce and sauerkraut

• Buy hay, straw and bedding.

• Tie down wind affected items

• Buy more Yarn

• Clean chimney or wood-stove pipe

• Stack a 3 day pile of wood close and dry

• Buy extra TP, batteries, lantern oil, candles, wicks and globes

• Plan trip to sunny south for winter break

• Harvest everything

• Check and test smoke alarms

• Have heat source checked

• Clean out gutters

• Check septic tank

• Set up heated water-bucket for the animals

• Hang up the insulated curtains

• Store extra gallons of water

• Service vehicles

• Have snow tires at the ready

• Expand reading library resources

• Dig out down blankets and afghans

• Check fire extinguishers

• Find jackets, hats, scarves, boots and both gloves

• Find flashlights. Find battery chargers. Find battery candles.

• Find ice grippers

• Install weatherstripping

• Order, cut and stack wood

• Store stockpile of prepared food

• Put up driveway reflectors

• Replace and clean furnace filters

• Remove batteries from stored bikes or tools

There. You now have the important list of “just a few simple tasks” to do before the ground freezes or it starts to snow. Just typing this list makes me tired. This is the seasonal change over. It’s a beautiful and bittersweet time of year, especially in Palmer, Alaska. But get your chores done so you can enjoy winter, which is about 3 weeks out.

If you have any energy left over, take a magnificent drive over Hatcher Pass. But be aware, it may close any day now.

Barbara Hunt lives, writes and paints Palmer, Alaska. She works hard to keep the robust pulse of our Palmer community. Barbara shares the good stuff weekly in the Palmer Alaska Buzz Column 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.