Happy Equinox!

Yesterday was the Official Equinox, the first day of fall. It seems that the peak of Fall's beauty used to be before the Equinox, but not this year. Look how pretty it was on top of Murphy Dome last weekend. It was windy as heck! Usually, the wind drops off when you descend from the top of the dome, but it did not. I believe the wind we experienced was the edge of Typhoon Merbok, which brought record winds and flooding to the West Coast of Alaska. The coastal villages are devastated. I've heard of families losing their entire summer fish and berry storage, as well as their fish drying racks, which is heartbreaking. Please help, if you can.

Anyway, I am of the opinion that fun activities should be fun. We aren't military and feel no need to march around when the weather is terrible, so we almost immediately turned around and went back to the car, then drove back down to the Ester Dome Singletrack Trails.

In the sheltered valley on the side of Ester Dome, we had a peaceful, lovely walk.

It's hard to get a photo of them both side by side. When I call them, one comes back first.

Then the other.

It's getting chilly at night. I'm seeing huskyballs again. They almost always match chirality.

Hey Thistle, Hey Thissy, Sweet Thissy, Fuzzy Thissy!

Equinox morning! We still have not frosted.

And yup, there are still leaves on the trees. I went kind of nuts with anti-bird strike devices on this window, because historically this window has been The Worst. No bird strikes this year, so it seems to be working!

This is how threatening Harold, the plastic owl, looks from outside.

This larch on campus is still dark green! Larch are deciduous conifers. Soon, its needles will turn yellow and fall off.

On the Equinox Day (Sept 21), we lit the first fire of the season.

Fall is still occurring! Look how pretty the front yard is!