Tag Archives: Fall

Inside Out

Déja Vu

Like yesteryear, the world is divided. Hurricanes batter the coast, wildfires torch the land. We have a pandemic, although this time we have vaccines that could prevent much hardship. We have believers and deniers…

Summer is on his way out in the Arctic. The mosquitoes are gone. We had a blockbuster blueberry crop, tundra colors a peaking. Cloudy skies, termination dust, hunting season…

“At some point, you will hit a plateau. If you keep doing same things you did to get to that point, make a change.”

J.R. Rim

I crave for change.

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Autumn

Termination Dust, Alaska

“Autumn is more a season of the soul than of nature.”

Friedrich Nietzsche

I had so many good intentions about documenting my adventures this year in the Arctic:

Months without sunrise or sunset.

The first fireweed flower of the season.

The scares of wildfires abound.

Floating through the Gates of the Arctic.

Climbing Mt. Dillon.

Where did it all go? Well, there were so many thrilling moments this summer, I found just enough time to breathe, eat, and occasionally sleep.

Hope your summer was a great one.

Officially we are still having fall, although winter is knocking heavily on its doors in some places of North America.

How does your soul feel about the impending transition?

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One Man's Paradise

Fall Colors

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Fall Colors at the Koyukuk, Brooks Range, Alaska

“I sit beside the fire and think
Of all that I have seen
Of meadow flowers and butterflies
In summers that have been

Of yellow leaves and gossamer
In autumns that there were
With morning mist and silver sun
And wind upon my hair.”

J.R.R. Tolkien

I am not sitting next to the fire thinking of what was. Not yet.

The hillsides just exploded in colors. There are moments, when the sun breaks through. It’s pure magic. In other places the wind has already blown the leaves to the ground. Every morning I wake up to a different scenery.

That’s why I am sitting next to the fire, only to warm up my creaky bones.

 

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One Man's Paradise

Life in the Arctic

“What shocked me the most about the polar regions was neither the cold nor the remoteness, but a bewildering confrontation with my own lack of understanding.”

Galen Rowell

When Galen Rowell visited the Brooks Range for the first time, he was not prepared for the loss of daily rhythms, such as sunrise and sunset. He describes the time as “flowing without punctuation “and “days merging into undark nights”.

Especially after a long winter this period of continuous daylight becomes a challenge to all visitors of the polar regions. Life seems abundant, with constant change. No time to sleep, no time to rest.

Well, it’s the end of August. The midnight sun has come and gone. For a few hours the sky turns dark at night. For the first time in several months I have seen stars. Last night the Northern Lights were dancing above the mountains. The tundra colors have changed from lush green to red, orange, yellow, and brown in some places. Quite a display.

About 2 more weeks for me in the Arctic. I will savor every day, rain or shine.

 

 

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One Man's Paradise

October follies

“The highest form of bliss
is living with a certain degree of folly.”

Desiderius Erasmus

October has just been amazing. Clear skies, bountiful of sunshine, freezing night temperatures, fall foliage… Almost not enough time to catch your breath.

I know winter is coming. We are loosing 7 minutes of daylight every day. 13 F was the lowest temperature reading so far. Nevertheless, when the sun is out it just feels much warmer.

If I could, I would stop time right now. But I can’t. So I go with the flow and appreciate what I have.

 

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One Man's Paradise

Change

“The only way to make sense out of change
is to plunge into it,
move with it,
and join the dance.”

Alan W. Watts

To me no season screams more “change” than fall.

Leave colors fade from lush green to yellow, orange, red, brown, and black…

  • False hellebore, Veratrum viride.

The  first snow of the season indicates the arrival of winter…

  • Termination dust

Our watchful police department reminds us to have working lights on our bicycles, or else…

The northern lights are back…

Joining the dance.

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One Man's Paradise

2015 was good!

No matter what happened.

There are always ups and downs.

Appreciate what you have.

Snowstorm at Granite Creek, WY
Hoback River, Teton County, WY
Archimedes, the cute one.
Grand Tetons, WY
Tugging behind the sled.
Lac La Hache, BC
Bridalveil Falls, AK
Lush fern foliage
Poppy
Cranberries
Fall Colors in the Yukon, Canada.
Icicles, AK

Looking forward to 2016.

Happy New Year!

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Nature

Summer Farewell – № 3

“Mere color, unspoiled by meaning,
and unallied with definite form,
can speak to the soul
in a thousand different ways. ”

Oscar Wilde

My way of hanging on to summer.

The first storms blew through Southeast Alaska. When the clouds lifted a few mountain tops revealed the first sugar coating. It’s another sign, the season is changing.

Most wildflowers are now in a hurry to produce seeds. Berries, red, blue, and black and lush lichen still paint the alpine tundra in their summer coat. It will all change, soon enough.

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