Termination Dust

Last night I made gnocchi with roasted tomatoes, and I used the last of the season's brandywines.  Some of them were so tiny and small that I didn't feel like dealing with stemming them for their meager offering of flesh, so instead I laid them out on the deck railing for the grey jays, Bruce and Sheila (and their offspring, Son of Bruce, and presumably, Daughter of Sheila).

I saw a jay this morning on the railing, but I don't think the jays like tomatoes, since they're all still there.  The jays prefer meat and cheese, I guess.  John doesn't like me feeding them perfectly good people food, but I swear I only give them stuff that's kind of old.  You know, like aged gouda.

I took this photo this morning.  Do you see what's on the railing other than tomatoes?  No?  Let me offer you a close-up of our deck.

That's right, termination dust has landed at Spinach Creek.

There's even more of it now, in the hour since I took these photos.  The driveway and deck are now covered in white.  Winter isn't coming – it's truly, finally here.  But we had a good run, I guess.  I mean, no snow accumulation until October 11th?  That's pretty unusual for Fairbanks.

I took the last of my fall walks yesterday down Spinach Creek to Hard Luck to see Lindsay.  Now if I want to take a walk with Theo, I'll do it inside at the Big Dipper (it's like mall walking, minus the overwhelming scent of crappy candle stores plus the stench of hockey sweat), or if it's at all warm out, maybe John and I could walk around Creamer's Field or the UAF ski trails before they're taken over by nordic skiers this winter.

Here are some photos of fall from earlier this year:

Sunset at Spinach Creek

View north from Old Murphy Dome Road

Before the leaves had turned

More sunset views from our deck

There's a robot on my deck!

The blue skies and orange leaves – my favorite part of fall

Walking down Hard Luck

Moose!

Winter