Palmer termination dust

This is the moody time of year for the creep of termination dust, defined as the earliest snow on the mountains. It starts teasing with us about the end of August and plays with us the full month of September. In October, it gets real. The snow pack sometimes advances slowly and sometimes it just leaps forward. On Pioneer Peak and Matanuska Peak (or Byers Peak) the termination dust initially appears as decorative powdered sugar on the cupcake. Eventually it turns into a thick white frosting which begins to drip down the flanks and into the crevasses. Over on smaller mountains, the snow flirts in a daily visit and melts again in the still-warm noontime sun. We, as a community, determine our seasonal status by the termination dust’s snowy positioning around our Palmer mountains.

It’s Hose Time in Palmer—You know it is time. All those hoses that you rolled outside this year and didn’t need…well it’s time to put them away. Hoses need to lay out in the sun—like sleeping snakes—draining until they are warm and rollable. You need to take the attachments off. You can use some coated electrician wire to secure them in a bundle. And if you’re smart you can attach the end of the hose to the other end so everything is connected. Now if you’re lazy you can leave them laying around all winter and the snow will hide them. Regardless, don’t forget to detach them from the house faucet.

Migration is happening—Many of our bird friends have headed south already. Their wintering range is far away. The migrations are triggered by: light levels, the angle of the sun and therefore the diminishing daylight hours; cooler weather; and baby birds’ maturation. It’s always remarkable to think how far our birds fly. If they were Alaska Airlines customers they would score a free milage ticket yearly. The term snowbirds is totally correct. Loons, geese, terns, sparrows, robins, thrush, rufous humming birds, swans, chickadees, junco, grosbeak, hawks, and plovers all subscribe to migration. The smartest ones are the Golden Plovers who head straight 3000 miles south to Hawaii. It takes the flocks 3-4 days to get there but they love the sun, like all of us.

Mat Su Flute Choir—This is a new ensemble offering a presentation of “Scattered Steps” on Thursday, September 14 at 6pm at the Wasilla Library. The Palmer Library isn’t functioning yet and there are Palmer participants in this and the Mat Su String Trio and Quartet who will also be performing “A Little Mozart.” It is a free concert and so appreciated.

Bright Lights Event on Saturday—There is a wonderful poetry and fiction reading event this Saturday at Palmer’s Eagle Hotel at 3pm. Hayden Write, an aspiring writer from Palmer, will read from his third book, Omnium: Heroes Collide; and Bill Schmidtkunz, the Poet Laureate of Sutton, will read a series of poems. The Bright Lights Project is located now in downtown Palmer, at the former banquet room of the Eagle Hotel. This new location at the Alaska Street facility has good operational space and categorized books ready

New Pavement—It’s sweet and smooth and it heads right into the Valley Center for Recycling over at the borough landfill. It’s new pavement and no longer will your vehicle clink and rustle as you drive up to do the easy recycle. It really is the best facility around and the volunteers and workers are so helpful. Plus it feels so good to recycle all this stuff. And if you need garden containers, moving boxes, egg cartons, or buckets, then you can pick them up for a donation.

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