The northland mountains take on the appearance of ginger cakes topped with powdered sugar in late August and early September. The early snows ease down the slopes day by day bringing signs of the impending winter closer to the valley residents below. The poplars and birch lay their golden leaves on the ground. The once-blazing fireweed is long past and turns brownish-black. Grizzly bears take final swipes at the lingering blueberries and high-bush cranberries. A few late-year salmon make their way to spawning grounds a thousand-plus miles from the sea. Their bodies are battered and turning ashen white in the final days before death.
A mild panic sets in for a lot of us. No one finishes all the outdoor chores planned earlier in the year. Cutting and stacking firewood and filling the freezer with moose and caribou take on higher priorities. The locals call the first snows termination dust, and for good reason. It signals a time to shift gears.
Photographers get excited with the changes. Stars return to the skies and with them the possibility of aurora borealis. With each shortening day, the light quality moves from crisp and brilliant greens and blues to pastels with lingering, long shadows, almost like interminable sunrises and sunsets. Sundogs and light pillars -- those miracles of "diamond dust" (fine ice crystals), reflection, and refraction -- start to appear.
The magic is just beginning.
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Unfortunately, Carol
16 years ago
