So, how’s the weather up there?

That’s what I get asked the most, so I thought I’d finally put up a blog post and fill you all in.

The weather up here is gorgeous, mostly.  It’s been anywhere from 60 to 80 degrees and anywhere in between, but mostly hovering around the low 70’s or so, which I think is ideal.We’ve had sunny days and rainy days, though the sunny have outnumbered the rainy. And considering we’ve got sun for about 20 hours a day, that’s not a bad bargain.

Speaking of sunshine… even though we have officially 4 hours or so between sunset and sunrise, it isn’t actually dark that long. The angle of the sun causes “dark” to be pretty darn light here–but it is getting more dark daily (we are losing about 6.5 minutes of light every day), so that it is just this past week getting actually dark at night for a little while around 2-3 am. Still not pitch black, though. Right now it is just after midnight and just slightly less than bright as day. We are enjoying it, but it does make you want to stay up late and sleep in. Good thing we are flexible that way.

Speaking of sleeping in…there has been a moose hanging around, visiting us in the early morning hours while we are still asleep (moose apparently are morning people). This is keeping the dogs happily occupied doing their dogly duty and chasing it away. I have only seen it once, but Ed has seen it several times (also being a morning person. or at least a person with a job to get up for). I have, however seen it’s tracks and other evidence of it’s passing through. I think it is attracted to the abundant horsetail ferns in the yard, but I can’t be sure yet.

Speaking of our yard… other than the aforementioned horsetail ferns, we have highly overgrown grass (it grows quickly here with so much sunlight), and our woods are filled with 3 or four kinds of trees which I have yet to positively identify, but it looks like mostly a mixture of aspen and paper birch, with a few spruce (black, perhaps?) thrown in for good measure. Very beautiful, I think. Also looks like some kind of alder near the wet spots and of course there are fireweed and bluebells livening up the place as well. I really need to dig my identification guides out of their boxes and get busy getting to know my surroundings here.

Speaking of digging out of boxes… that is what is taking up the majority of my time, still. Unpacking, arranging, hitting yard sales and thrift shops searching for cheap replacement items for stuff we left behind due to lack of room—all of the stuff that needs to be done to move into a new home. We still don’t have a couch to sit on nor dining room chairs. It’s almost like camping out. Almost.

Speaking of camping out, we’ve decided to head off on a little camping trip this coming weekend. We will probably hit Denali National Park and then play  it by ear from there (with much depending on the mosquito situation). I’d love to make it to Seward, but we may not have time to go that far on this trip. Ah, well. There is always next time.

Speaking of next time…I really need to get to bed while it is a bit dark. Sleep comes much easier that way. So until next time, I’ll see you all later!