Changing of the seasons.

It was as if a cold blanket suddenly settled onto the Peninsula, signifying the end of one season and the beginning of another.

The days became brisk, the trees changed color seemingly overnight, and the smell of decadent decay has officially filled the air.

All coming off the heels of a most memorable summer.

It’s strange, but despite working through a never-ending, headline-grabbing pandemic, the summer season ended up being alright. In fact, it felt as though not much had changed for us Alaskans. Locals filled the banks of the river, fishermen busy catching and harvesting for the long months ahead. Freezers were filled, gardens were meticulously taken care of, and our city of Soldotna remained bustling and alive.

Which is probably why the change of seasons feels so sudden. It’s as if everything halted, froze, paused. Sitting here in my cosy home as a fall storm brews outside, I feel like I finally have a moment to catch up, to breathe in this glorious change.

I find myself reflecting. Which isn’t unusual when you’ve spent the last few months running ragged and living off the high that summers in Alaska bring.

I find myself thinking back on all the excitement I experienced, the new sights I saw, the heartbreak, the love, the sun, and now the fog. I think about how lucky I am to live in such a state, how blessed we are to live in a place that provides, nourishes, inspires, and protects (social distancing? not a problem).

As I feel the momentum from summer coming to a close, I find particular pleasure in the little things I’m noticing in this seasonal change.

The two moose that live in my parent’s neighborhood, the double rainbow that soars across the Kenai River, the mountainsides changing color, as the first dusting of snow shows at the top of the peaks, the “beary” poop littered across the trails as grizzlies feast on fall berries in preperation for hibernation, and the spawned salmon, living out their last days in the glacial blue waters of the Kenai.

I am really lucky to live here, to be constantly surrounded by such raw beauty that never ceases to astonish me.

The world can be a polluted, complicated, dangerous, and political place but it can equally be healthy, safe, and simple to understand. It can be filled with fire, but it can also be doused with rain. You have the option to see the world in the lens of your choosing, and fall is prompting me to choose seeing the beauty in it all.

Alaska reminds me to appreciate and marvel at the world we live in, for so quickly it can change.

Hey, kind of like the seasons!