Time of little magnificent light

Palmer’s daily sunrises and sunsets are extraordinary in January. Both offer a full palette of color and awe. The morning is often greeted with the sweet pastel shades of baby girl pink clouds on the baby boy blue sky with a soft white quilt underneath. The early evening sunsets are bold streaks of indigo and tangerine along with golds, fuchsia, and neon blue. Nearly every single clear day offers these color shows and many of us must photograph them because we can not get enough. The Palmer Alaska Buzz social media platform is full of photos from every Palmer vantage point. This just proves repeatedly how valuable our place is to us.

Do The Maths—It’s not fun having to do arithmetic all the time but addition and subtraction are necessary in the Palmer days of short light. You have to watch the time and plan ahead to figure out when you can still walk the dogs or feed the chickens while the light is strong. Plus throw in the changing schedule of sunrises and sunsets and you have a strategic plan that must be followed because Mother Nature does not give grace on timeframes. Its a rigid but changing equation every single day. Contrast this with those long summer days when you can garden at midnight or 4am….and there is no restraint or math involved.

Seize the Sun—Because our mountains surround our Palmer place, the sun rides the ridges. What a beautiful concept this is and it is true. Just look out the window. The sun is definitely a verb and not a noun in our world. It is a joyful orb which others—in other places—might take for granted. Many of us collect sunlight right now and we have over six hours of daylight now—in our pockets. This might seem small to some, but it is a powerful psychological and optimistic source. We know that we are not losing anymore but instead will see exponential gains.

Seeds Have Arrived!!—The seed racks are out and full at the Palmer grocery stores. There is something so joyful to see the little packets of promise. Lucky people have been picking up their seed catalogues for weeks at the post office. More than a few local folks are spending their evenings drooling over the varieties and the vision of their 2023 garden. Plus if you take a look at some of the commercial greenhouses, you will see the very beginnings of Palmer activity. This knowledge must give you pleasure in realizing that always, after winter and wind, comes spring and summer. Ahhhhh.

This Week in Palmer—Live Music is pretty constant at the Palmer Ale House and Klondike Mikes. The Art Cafe is busting with new art classes. Omnivore is offering classes, movie nights and game night, now as well. The Community Center at the Palmer Train Depot is jammed full of events, both private and public. Monday January 16 is the Mat-Su Martin Luther King Jr. Foundation’s annual event honoring the works and dreams of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This will be held at the Glenn Massay Performance Art Theater at the College; there will be drumming, tribal dancers, live music, speakers and more. Monday night is Palmer History Night at the Moose Lodge in Palmer. They have changed evenings from the third Wednesday to the third Monday nights. The Palmer Library and Senior Center have a full jam of offerings posted now. AK Namaste and Midnight Sun Yoga have a variety of classes available and the gym, downtown Palmer, under Vagabonds, is a happening place. Curling and basketball, are alive and well in Palmer and skiing at Skeetawk is at it’s best right now. Lakes are seeing ice skaters and more than a few dogs are doing skijoring with their humans. 203 Kombucha has a new and lovely acoustic guitar for community use, compliments of Wood & Wire. Have fun and be safe Palmer!

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