Palmer palate proclamation

The Best part of the year is September in Palmer. Sun rays seem rare this year but when it shines, please notice that you have the entire color-wheel on your Palmer palate:

• Final blue summer sky

• White of the mountain tops

• Red of cliffs, ridges and low lying alpine vegetation

• Yellow of leaves and golden shrubs which are starting to lie down

• Greens of non-frost kissed fields and grasses

• Reds of the fireweed leaves, elderberries and mountain ash berries

Week of the Autumn Equinox—It’s officially fall and the Autumn Equinox is Thursday, September 22, 2022 and it is the official first day of fall. 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.

Here is the Annual “Palmer Prepares For Winter” Checklist.

Getting ready for winter is an Alaskan chore which often starts in the spring or summer. But for many of us, we’re having way too much fun to focus seriously on the preparations. The following list has been authentically crowd-sourced and revised over the years. It’s a bit scary because of its’ length. So you might want to read it in full and then just highlight your personal needs. Good Luck!

• Do the last mow.

• Find flash lights and check their functionality.

• Find snow shovels. Find car windshield scrapers. Find snow tires.

• Remove accessories from spigots.

• Button up the greenhouse. Throw leaves and mulch on the tossed garden

• Drain hoses on sunny day, roll, and store on coat hangers.

• Pick up tools you’ve left all over the yard.

• Put up lawn furniture, horseshoe stakes, and croquet pieces.

• Turn the compost.

• Cut and stack wood.

• Hang and Fill feeders.

• Empty planters.

• Dig tubers.

• Scatter poppy seed. Collect seed pods. Plant bulbs.

• Find your ice grips or cleats.

• Prepare for ice with bags of sand or kitty litter.

• Have your furnace checked along with your filters. Do annual maintenance.

• Inspect fire extinguishers and detectors.

• Clean gutters. Clean outside of windows.

• Check the seals around doors and garage doors.

• Bring out your family’s winter wear.

• Have stovepipes and chimneys cleaned

• Check fire alarms and fire extinguishers

• Pick last berries, apples and potatoes

• Get your car ready with emergency gear and extra clothing

• Unload shed, remove snow tires, refill shed.

• Dream. Buy Tickets. Pack.

• Pre-dig pet graves, just in case.

• Stock up your larder and book shelves with some of your PFD.

• Buy yarn.

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

• Tie down trampolines, patio umbrellas and items

• Winterize boats or motorhomes. Put away fans and dig out the extra blankets.

• Finish all the summer projects you started.

• Put up all those little holiday lights before it gets too cold and early dark.

This Week in Palmer—There is a community celebration on Wednesday, 5:30 pm, September 21 at the Palmer Senior Center. It is the Palmer Community Foundation and they will be celebrating the granting of $70,000 to worthy local causes. There will be live music along with refreshments. There is football, live music and volleyball this weekend. Thursday is an interesting program at the Matanuska Experiment Farm on the Use of Drones in Alaska Agriculture. The Alaska Railcar “Tasting Room” at Moonstone Farms is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday this week. Wednesday night is the Palmer Historical Society’s program at the Moose Lodge at 7 pm. The program is Raceway Park.

Barbara Hunt is both Palmer writer and artist. She works hard to keep the robust pulse of Palmer, Alaska. (She is working hard on the 2023 Palmer Community Calendar, which may be available in October.) 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