Let the sun shine...

Played with the contrast with this first one to show the termination dust more clearly so the colors aren't really accurate, but still a pretty day. Remember, if you click on a photo, it'll show you a larger version.
Looking across Wasilla Lake


Another one where I tinkered with the contrast, but shows the snow pack atop the more distant mountains.

At least we don't have to worry about keeping Ol' Smokey the Bear busy right now.

Looking across Wasilla Lake toward the Talkeetna Mts.

Anyone out there surprised that I meandered down to the flower bed under the welcome to Wasilla sign by the lake?

Pretty in pink....Cosmos, I'm told. Trust me, I don't know this stuff myself. I've decided I'm hopeless at flower names, so I just take pictures of "pretty flowers".

Weirdly enough, the mountains looked clearer than this to the naked eye so I've either gotten to be a rotten photographer, always possible, or there was a hazy something in the air that the lens picked up that didn't show to my eyeballs. Ha

Gotta love those skies, which somehow manage to dwarf even the mountains.

Kicked back and relaxing on a sunny afternoon, these folks were actually reading.

Somehow it still amazes me to see folks playing in water that to my former Floridian self is frigid!

Hey! More flowers!

Uh, oh, check out the fireweed.

Double uh-oh, check out the fireweed up close.

Mts. and ducks and bees and flowers...and a cute kid

Somehow, the first thing that popped into mind for this one was, "One if by land, two if by sea...", er, lake.
Colors aren't right in this one but wanted to clearly show you where the snow, er, the "that's not snow" is lurking on the mountains.

Needless to say, some clouds lurking about, too.

Looking across Wasilla Lake from the general area of where you walk in from the parking lot.


Duckies don't want anything to do with the cute kid, I'd say. They were headed ashore until they saw him, then switched direction fast.

Someone's always has to be the odd duck out and this was the one. I think he must have thought I was a strangely dressed tree cos I thought he was going to walk right up to me for awhile. I believe this is his, "Get the right profile, it's my best side" hint.

Checking out the left profile, not too bad, Duckie, my new duck friend.
But, back to the mountains...
Walking up along the edge of the park a bit, shot this one from more of the angle from Parks than the parking lot.



Anyone surprised out there that the flower beds stopped me in my tracks?

Fireweed....going to fluff?

Someone, quick, tell me this isn't wnat I'm seeing. No fireweed fluff here. Must have been some of that, uh, cotton stuff the mountains have been using to make us think they have termination dust.

I just love the colors here. I've got this same lamp post encased in lacy ice from last winter somewhere.

Eventually it was time to stalk a bee...or two....or three...





Click on this one and enlarge it to get a gander at the size of the one holding centerstage. It even managed to make me miss the flying one until I got home and downloaded these.







Speaking of bees, back closer to home....alongside the road near my driveway.
Coming in for a landing! Check out the bee top center!

This one seems to be similar to a jet coming in for a landing. All systems go, landing gear down, flaps up, runway in sight... And don't miss the other bee sorta center

Looking north toward the Talkeetna Mountains. I'm standing at the end of my driveway. The dark clouds at the top were actually beginning to roll in, so I headed inside, leaving the bees to practice landings without me.

Lazy Day

Looking back at the house from near the end of the driveway.

Lots of blues and purples left in the flower beds, but that's about it.

Heading out along the road, the fireweed is still pretty...

....even as it nears the end of its run.

Oops, did I speak too soon. Nears? Uh, oh, next comes fluff, then comes Ol' Man Winter.


Pretending that I hadn't noticed the fireweed, I snapped a few more photos of flowers. Like the fireweed that I didn't see, this one is just growing wild along the roadside of the fence.

Butterfly marker: It's looking a tad rough, but this serves to tell me where the yard ends and the driveway begins when I'm snow blowing. I've spent way too much time blowing snow outta the yard, so this helps me save some energy.

Barkyard decor, courtesy of two of the ugliest, twisty'est (is that a word?) darn trees I've ever seen, but there's something beautiful about 'em when I zero in on the pine cones.