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 a 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. And this is not just my personal opinion. Last week on the Palmer Alaska Buzz platform, people were sharing their own personal reasons for loving this season. Here is a list of others’ reasons: frosty mornings, sunny afternoons, final harvests, more careful drivers, the tourists and mosquitos leave, pumpkins, and of course the first snow.

Autumn Equinox is Sunday—The Palmer Autumn Equinox is the point where our days and nights are equally long. Let’s prepare to say a respectful hello to the impending dark season. We also give thanks to the waning sunlight, as we store our harvest of this year's crops. This is the time for heavy sweaters and foraging. We watch the snow creep down the mountains. Since we’ve not had a deep freeze yet, please celebrate. Once the big freeze happens, we’re all in and all done. But until that time, let’s enjoy warmth from the daytime sunlight.

Take a Drive—It’s the shoulder season and so very beautiful. You owe it to yourself to see Hatcher Pass in September. It’s a total gift for your soul. Then drive slowly up to the top and embrace the colors and majesty of the mountains. Walk some of the precious wooded trails while the leaves are falling, especially at Matanuska River Park or Reflection Lake or Government Peak Recreation Area.

Healing Waters—Stop at the Little Susitna River and inhale the negative ions. I learned this when I was at the river bridge on the way to Hatcher Pass. An Alaska Native Elder was there and although we were strangers, we agreed about the special quality of the air as you stand near the rushing river. Her son mentioned that we were sensing the negative ions—which are actually oxygen atoms with extra-negatively-charged electrons. A bit of research shows that negative ions are abundant in nature, especially around waterfalls and rivers and widespread in mountains and forests. However, water in fast motion produces most abundant negative ions, bringing more energy and vitality.

The Seasons are Swirling with Lots to Do—Next week we will have annual “Palmer Alaska Buzz Autumn Chore List.” Like both the birds and the animals, we have to be ready for winter

Barbara Hunt is both Palmer writer and artist. She works hard to keep the robust pulse of Palmer, Alaska. Barbara shares the good stuff in the weekly 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