falling..

its here.
crisp mornings, dark skies, (finally) at night again. the leaves in the moss covered woods smell of decomposing, musty earth.

in other places ive lived in my lifetime, fall creeps in slowly, allowing time to digest the change. offering golden, daytime sunshine to balance cool evenings.

here, we experienced a cold, bleak summer, and fall has come charging in seemingly overnight. the leaves have turned yellow in great swaths, encompassing whole branches in hours.
the fireweed is brilliant red.
the berries are now mostly gone, the few rotting sweet ones left hanging will likely end up in the belly of a bear.
the bear are up against the clock now and soon will leave to settle in for the long winter.
we are trying to wrap our heads around what will be the next 7 months, as winter in alaska is not a commitment for the faint of heart.