Autumn is Southeast is normally a miserable time.  Statistically it rains 29 out of 31 days in October.  It’s the beginning of stormy season.  On October 1 we clocked 75 mile an hour winds at Sitka airport and about 2 and a half inches of rain.  Off-shore there were 37-foot seas, cruise ships canceled calls and Alaska Airlines couldn’t fly.  As the storm subsided the surge came in we surfers played at Sandy Beach.  The last picture is of waves crashing on the islands beyond the airport runway.  Look at the height of the spray against the tall trees on the island.

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That was Friday. On Sunday (and according to the forecast for the next three days, an anomaly for Sitka) we will have nice weather and we get paid back a little for the rains of October and storms of November.

Fresh snow looks so bright on the mountaintops as clouds and sun play hide and seek among the peaks creating a moving kaleidoscope of shadows.  Some of the mountains still have fall alpine colors showing through the snow.  (We call early snow Termination Dust, TD, because it means summer jobs are ending and summer wages stop.) There is a little color at sea level as well.  

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The salmon run is finishing up and the bears are packing it in before they go to den, we hope, for the winter.

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Autumn in Southeast.  Leandra Baker performed a parody of Autumn in New York on Raven Radio, perhaps 30 years ago.  I still remember some of the lines.

Shimmering Clouds in 60 knot winds in 40 foot seas

Are making me feel I’m home.

Autumn in Southeast brings the promise of new mud

Autumn in Southeast is also mingled with rain

I don’t think I want to live anywhere else.