Changing colors, morning frost, snow on the higher inland mountains, and a chill in the air - those indications are clear that fall is here.  The speedily waning daylight hours take getting used to.  But continued clear weather leads to starry nights and the Aurora, so there is consolation.  High bush cranberries and lingonberries are ripe.  Lack of rainfall has led to the streams and rivers drying up, and the salmon-choked waterways are preventing the salmon from spawning. There is a glut of food for the gulls, eagles and bears - which is at least some good from this strange warm dry summer. 

I am eager to finish my Alutiiq drum!  All of the components are complete: rim, painted ochre red, the handle - a fine sturdy section of elk antler - awaits to be attached; the drumskin is a sea-mammal stomach, and has been stretched and dried.  My excitement at putting all of the components together and hearing the voice of my drum are making me impatient.  "All in good time," the Mother reminds me. "In good time. Her voice will wait."

I finished another commission piece last night, and said farewell to a friend. Took photos of my completed piece today between rain showers and sun breaks.  We had such warm dry summer, even into August, it seemed it would never end. But now our late summer/fall weather is here.  Fall always feel like a new beginning. A time for "Always Getting Ready" as they say further up North.  

So now I move on to other projects awaiting me on my workbench. Blueberries all blew off the bushes during our windstorm last weekend.  High bush cranberries and lingonberries await a frost to ripen them. Pink salmon lay decomposing and dying along the riverbanks.  Bears fatten up. Hunters prepare to go out to   fill their families' freezers.  Logs are split, firewood is stacked. It is a time to brace for winter, stock the larders, insulate ourselves for the cold and dark that is to come. 

Winter can be a time of isolation. But it can also be a time of gathering, coming in from the storm, hunkering up to the fire, listening to the stories and songs. Gather, gather in. Let's get ready.