Front yard Forests

Many years ago a friend told me, always take the place with the view.  Even if it's just a snippet.  You will never regret taking the place with the view.  And I realized after spending a lot of time doing short weekend trips to get away from the city that I was in...the goal should be to wake up in your own bed on Saturday am where you would want to be on vacation.

I have never regretted taking this place with the view.

I decided to make today a little more low key, and just stick to exploring  my own front yard, versus a big hike.  I had not yet ambled down to the river just beyond the front door since all the snow melted.

 Along the way, the bluebells were thriving.  Reminds me of the old folk song "around us for gladness the bluebells were ringing, ah yet little thought I how soon we should part."  Now I have that stuck in my head lol.

The river was peaceful and I spent a little time foraging for cool rocks.  I decided I didn't need bug spray for such a quick walk through the forest.  I was wrong.  I was a fine feast for the skeeters.

Alaska flowers are tough little things.  I don't know what this is, but it is lovely, dug into the scraggly, dry rocky dirt and standing against the wind.

Deeper into the woods all of the lush greenery is reaching for the sun.

I am not positive, but I kind of think these are rosehip flowers.  They are certainly in all the spots I picked rosehips last fall.

All of the stumps have their own little vibrant ecosystem.

The view a couple hundred yards from my front door.  My friend was right.  Always go with the place with the view.  This spot has been such a refuge from the craziness of life and work.  I can wake up any morning and go soak in the view and soothe the soul.

Even found a little patch of lupines out front.  Thank you Alaska for finally giving us a sunny weekend!

Alyeska Flora

The grounds of the hotel Alyeska are gorgeous.  They dance with the color and movement of the mountain wildflowers...and maybe a few transplants that were too pretty to resist planting.

The lilies may be transplants to Alaska, like so many of us, but the thrive in the summer days.

Flowers in Alaska tend to be tiny and intricate..bursts of color made of dozens or hundreds of little flowers, rather than one big flower.

I have no idea what these are, but they look like whimsical and curious enough to be from a land of pixies and fairies and such.

Alaska favors flowers that bloom in purples, and indigo's and blues.  The twisting petals remind me of little dancers.  Alaska flowers are beautiful.

These little buds remind me of snails, or delicate violet seashells, they have a special beauty that is both delicate and hardy.

I am not sure if this is the same plant with white flowers rather than blue, but it was just as pretty.

The little snail-like buds eventually unfurl into these flowers.  I am exceptionally drawn to them, but I  am beginning to think this is Alaskan monkshood.  Also known as wolf's bane, mouse bane, women's bane, aconite, devil's helmet, and the Queen of All Poisons (yes, seriously).  It's an acute poison, fatal in 2-6 hours if ingested.  The poison is also readily absorbed from the skin, so picking it is a really bad idea.

It's beautiful though, whatever it is.  I like how the flowers on the bottom left look like butterflies.

There are splashes of other colours too -- like this yellow.  And yes, I spelled colour with a u on purpose, I am exerting my Canadianess here.  I need a few outlets for my repressed superfluous vowels whilst living in the USA.

This splash of soft pastel pink has the little flowers delicately splayed into a virtual cotton candy for bees.  I loved how soft it looked.

Love how the petals twist and spiral, making each flower ever so subtly unique.

Sometimes it's nice to stop and smell the flowers for a day or two.  Happy I had a chance to, and looking forward to some more long summer days very soon.

Summer Drive

On Day 3 of Shibby's Alaska vacation, it was time for a road trip.  One of the first places she wanted to go was to see the bears at the Conservation Center.  We had our pitstops at Alaska Wildberry, and lunch at the Peanut Farm, and headed south on the Seward Highway.  It was a beautiful clear and sunny day to see Turnagain Arm.

It was a little different from the days of old where we explored Bermuda by scooter.  We had radio.  Coffee holders.  And traffic.  In the scooter days, we could maneuver pretty easily, or get by holdups in Bermuda's infamous "third lane' of traffic, the third lane being the center line of the road between opposing lanes flows of traffic.  Amazing that I survived all that and got taken out by a rat terrier in the end.  Anyway, our beautiful drive started out well, great clear views of the water, some beautiful Fireweed on the roadside to add a splash of color to the pictures.

Occassionally a float plane would cruise by, just willing us to take its photo as it headed on to Seward or Homer, in that cool and casual way that Alaskans fly rather than drive distances between 100 and 1000 miles. Fact...one in five Alaskans have a pilots license.

Unfortunately there was an accident further up the road, and after an hour parked on the highway, we were forced to turn back to Anchorage as the road would remain closed for several hours.  We were a bit disappointed, and with the afternoon fading, had to come up with a change of plans on the fly.  We decided to stop at the Alaska Zoo on the way back through Anchorage.

Before I talk about the zoo, I wanted to share some pictures of flowers at the zoo.  Alaska is quietly big on flowers.  You don't hear a lot of fuss and muss about city planners, or beautification schemes, you just find a lot of flowers, everywhere.  I think nature around here inspires everyone to try a little bit of gardening.  Even I managed a little wildflower garden on my patio this year, which I am desperately trying to keep alive now in September when the sun won't come out and the clouds hang low threatening to freeze my poor little flower friends.  They live in the spare bathroom now.  But anyway, there are lots of little wildflowers that pop up anywhere there is an open spot, and lot of little pots and plots carefully tended that you see all around town, and even around the zoo.

This sleepy little sunflower in the late afternoon sun made me smile.

And these bright pink and yellow flowers could brighten any day.  In Alaska, the flowers themselves are small, but their color and energy are super big!

One more shot of the flowers...and then it was time to focus on the animals (literally and figuratively).