Alaska for real
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

FALL: Preparing for Winter, Part II

11/10/2017

2 Comments

 
Picture
​This is our busiest time of year as we gear up for the winter storms and snowfall to come, tightening up or putting in new shorelines, putting new surge anchors on them, cutting out worn pieces of rope, and checking to make sure all the knots are secure. We also work on adding flotation to our houses, new logs added to the outside or slid into bug-eaten openings.

But preparation for winter isn't all about hard labor. We also have to prepare our minds for the coming short days and diminishing sunshine. Even my Maine Coon Katya feels this urge. I catch glimpses of her quietly meditating on the last days of overhead sunshine and I wonder what she's thinking about the changing season.
Picture
​At this time of the year I make a point of going for long rambles over the rocks, soaking in the piercing, poignant fall sunlight often framed by approaching storm clouds. I let the world fall away, forget the coming winter, and absorb the trenchant reality of the vast wilderness with my aloneness as a human being standing on the edge of the world.
Picture
​We're surrounded by evergreen conifers so there are few trees that change colors, just the alders and crab apple trees, mainly, and those that do leap out from the endless variatians of perennial green. There's one evergreen, though, that works as a bridge between them--the western red cedar as it displays patches of brilliant orange, known as flagging.
Picture
​Flagging is the red cedar's way of prioritizing its resources. It lets the inner foliage, that receives the least sun and doesn't get washed as often so it's the least productive, die off. It's alien but beautiful, and doesn't last for long. In the first big storm all those orange needles are blown off and mark the tideline for weeks to come, a reminder that the warm days of summer are gone.
Picture
​On one of my long rambles I came across a red cedar log that the tide had perched, just for me, like a park bench between rocks overlooking the strait. I seated myself and soaked in the spash of the waves with the sun sparkling down on them as the bull kelp, rooted to rocks below, bobbed carelessly as if unaware of the storms that would eventually tear them loose and toss them on the shore. Geese flew over, black silhouettes against a perfect blue sky, waving goodbye to me as they headed south like the summer people and tourists that were absent from the strait after roaring up and down it all summer long. It was just me and the whales now.

It's at times like these that I know I'm the richest human on earth and can only thank God for these treasures that I'm storing up for the coming winter.
Picture
2 Comments
Wendy
11/10/2017 04:28:13 pm

Love it, love it, love it!

I could use some time like that. I'm glad you realize how special it is.

Reply
Tara (ADOW)
11/10/2017 05:33:47 pm

I never want to lose track of how privileged I am to live out here like this with such amazing beauty around me all the time. People sometimes ask me why I live out here when it takes so much work, so I wanted to write a post that shows the riches that make it all worthwhile, and then some. I hope you get time to soak in the wonders of your part of the world, too. Thanks for writing, Wendy!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner


    Author

    Tara Neilson (ADOW)

    Picture
    Click on the photo to purchase my memoir

    Archives

    June 2021
    May 2021
    August 2020
    May 2020
    February 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015

    Categories

    All
    Alaska
    Alaskan Movie Review
    Animals
    Art
    Authors
    Birds
    Books
    Building Projects
    Chores
    Communications
    Entertainment
    Family
    Fish
    Foodie
    From The Dairy Crate
    Guest Blogs
    Health
    History
    Hobbies & Crafts
    Interviews
    Jobs
    Legendary Alaskans
    Library
    Logging
    Megans Art
    Monster Busting
    My Book
    My Column
    Myths
    Nostalgia
    Odds N Ends
    Odds-N-Ends
    Phenomena
    Photo Journal
    Raised In Ruins
    Re Purposing
    Re-purposing
    RTV
    Seasons
    Shipwreck Salvage
    Travel
    Videos
    Weather
    White Knuckles
    Wilderness Life Hack
    Writing

    RSS Feed

Tara Neilson©


  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact