No Palmer Garden and Art Fair

The second weekend in July has always been a big weekend in Palmer celebrating the traditional Garden and Art Faire in the green grassy space between the borough building, the Palmer Ale House, The Museum, The Colony Inn and the Library. This was an unforgettable summer festival with all the great things and none of the bad things. Artists, musicians, gardeners, craftspeople, specialty foods, and quilt-makers would have many white tents and festive spaces. And because it was in “the town green” it was especially lovely. It is with great disappointment that there will NOT be a Garden and Art Fair this weekend. There has been plenty of emotion and discussions over it’s demise so we won’t go over this again. Nonetheless it is a very sad and poignant loss for our community. Thankfully, the Palmer Museum is promising to try a smaller version of “Art in the Garden,”on July 27th, so stay tuned.

Change in Season—It feels as if we have moved into the cloud summer season. After weeks of brilliant sunny weather, we now have weeks of clearly cloudy weather. This is fairly typical and we’ve all been here before. But because as Alaskans, Weather begins with a capital letter and plays a major role in our lives and in fact is a character in most of our stories. We are aware of weather more than most. The clearly cloudy season is now where temperatures will hang out in the 60’s and we will have occasional rains but no monsoons. We save the biggie rainstorms for August.

Recognition that High Summer is Over—This is a hard topic and it is difficult to not be resentful about it. But summer is half way finished. And with that acknowledgement comes a bit of wistfulness and a sense of loss. The loss is clinical and accurate however based on the length of sunlight, since we are several weeks past the Summer Solstice. Summer’s light is starting to fade although the temperatures will stay warm for another full month. In fact most Alaskans are starting to flirt with the fact that, although a long ways off, another winter is coming. Many long-timers recognize this with no bitterness and Alaska Natives, who have been here for centuries, have a better acceptance and say, “We are always preparing for Winter.”

Wet Weather Worms—We are now seeing the congregations of earthworms collecting on the sidewalks and parking lots in Palmer, after a nice rainstorm. They are plentiful and kinda creepy in such large batches and swarms. There are a few reasons for all these earthworms. Some say it is because earthworms breathe through their skin, so when ground is wet, the moist soil inhibits their breathing. The worms are basically looking for fresh air, above ground. Some say that the rain allows the earthworms to travel and migrate above ground when it is wet. And as usual some say it is all about sex and propagation and mating. The only really solid fact is that if you’re walking on Palmer sidewalks after a rain, it is nearly impossible to not step on many an earthworm. The rains also cause great bird activity involving the worms. And an abundance of ants, mosquitos and shews are also energized after a rainfall.

Flower Baskets and Community Gardens—Palmer has dozens of flower baskets, flower gardens, food gardens and community gardens. They thrive when the rainy clearly cloudy conditions arrive. We must recognize that the City of Palmer is devoted to the maintenance of of these public gardens and we are all grateful. But having Mother Nature on our side to help with the watering and hydration is a very helpful thing.

This Weekend in Palmer—A wonderful annual summer event, The Palmer Wine Walk—organized by the Museum, is this weekend. Friday Fling should be happening again in some fashion and expect to see more safety cautions. There are lots of pedestrians in Palmer during these things and it is absolutely necessary to drive slow. There is lots of live music this weekend at all the normal spots.

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