(The title of this entry is taken from the poem by James Whitcomb Riley entitled "When the Frost is on the Punkin")

Fall is officially over. Overnight temperatures have dipped below freezing. My sunflowers now stand in a row, looking sad and forlorn. Their once cheery heads gaze at the ground and their leaves are curled and brown. The few houseplants I had on my deck (which I forgot to bring in) are beyond help. Their leaves fell off when the dirt froze in the pot. It is a sad sight in my backyard, where once bright yellow flowers were backed by orange and golden birch leaves. Now there are bare trees, brown leaves on the ground, and dead flowers. I have often said that I don't like the month of April in Alaska, with the leafless trees and dirty, melting snow - but now I do believe that the week when we transition from fall to winter is truly my least favorite. Even my mood has drooped, as I watch the foliage die. While I'm not ready for snow, at least it will make everything beautiful again.

I don't want to dwell on the sadness of saying goodbye to summer and now autumn. There is good that comes with every season. This is the perfect time of year to begin seeing glorious sunrises and sunsets again. We have what most people would consider normal hours of daylight now - about 12 hours/per day. On a clear day, the sun comes up and goes down in a blaze of glory, and colors I haven't seen in months streak the skies.

The northern lights have been very active as well. There is nothing I enjoy more than standing beneath the starry skies, watching the lights dance above me, while it's still warm enough to only be wearing a fleece jacket. Right now, I can toss on a sweatshirt, grab my camera, and head out in the front or back yard. In time, more planning will go into my outdoor excursions to photograph the lights. Soon, I'll be grabbing a parka and gloves, and snow boots and a hat - and second guessing my desire to stand outside in below zero weather taking photographs!

The following photos were taken over two nights:

Big Dipper

An experiment with flash

Lights over my house

Through the trees

Over the past week, I've had two wonderful encounters with wildlife. They were quick, but still exciting. A couple of days ago, an owl was perched on a lower branch of one of my trees. I saw him just as he dove for the ground, picked up a small rodent (most likely a vole) in his mouth, and flew off. There was no time to grab my camera, but the experience was awesome. The owl was beautiful, with a huge wingspan. I do hope for a repeat sighting someday.

My second wildlife sighting was of an adorable snowshoe hare, who stopped in the middle of my yard to investigate some of the remaining greenery. By the time I grabbed my camera, he was hopping towards the woods, so the photo I snapped is on the blurry side. As you can see in the photo, the snowshoe hare's ears are turning white, and his feet are white too. According to information I found online, snowshoe hares begin to molt their summer coat in late autumn. The process lasts about 10 weeks, with the white fur appearing first on the ears and feet and moving towards the body until the molt is complete. Last winter, I saw many snowshoe tracks in my yard, but never actually saw any hares. I hope they're more visible this year.

Two mornings ago, I took Sedona out for a short walk and noticed it was much colder than it had been. A glance at the outdoor thermometer showed a brisk 28 degrees. No wonder I was seeing my breath! When I looked down at the dead leaves at my feet, there was frost edging them.

This morning, Steve called me from work at 6am. I was surprised to get a phone call from him so early, and worried that something had happened on the way to work. But no... his phone call was to inform me that it was snowing in the hills! Winter will soon be upon us.

It was beginning winter,
An in-between time,
The landscape still partly brown:
The bones of weeds kept swinging in the wind,
Above the blue snow.

Theodore Roethke (1908-1963)