3 Weeks Ahead of Schedule — Summer in Alaska

It is June 26th, 2016 and here in the Interior of Alaska summer is advancing quicker than ever before. Wild blueberries, which we normally harvest in late July and the first half of August, are already becoming ripe and edible. Morel mushrooms have been growing steadily since the beginning of June and the season is already slowing down.

My family lives next to a migratory bird refuge and we are always the first to hear the honking geese and distinct crane calls, which begin when the snow is half melted. The giant flocks of ducks, geese and cranes were in tune with the early snow melt, arriving as they normally would — just sooner.

It has been in the 80’s this week, and our Inupiat Eskimo children suffer in the heat. We have been finding daily refuge in the cool lakes just off of the Tanana River, south of Fairbanks, but I don’t remember swimming in June before or ever feeling the need to do so. I have a feeling it is going to be a hot summer in Alaska, and likely many other places.

I wish you all cool waters to dip your feet into.