Brace Yourselves; Photos are Coming

Today I'm going to start off with some of the art I've done recently.  To be honest, I haven't done as much as I'd have liked to.  That's partially because of how busy with work I am (I've never really held a full-time job until now) and also partially because of how lazy I am.  I really need to work on that.

I'm very happy with the things I've been turning out this summer, but I just feel like I'm not being serious enough.  I mean, I like all of these as sketches or little fun projects, but none of them are close to being portfolio material.  And I really need to start making more portfolio pieces.  Graduation/real life is a lot more closer than I like to think.

As per usual, I also have several new wildflower pictures for you guys.  I'm starting to learn the names of more of them, but I'd like to somehow compile all the pictures I've taken and add little identification label-y things.  Like my own personal nature guide.

These little white octopi are actually getting ready to turn into Watermelon Berries.

Dwarf Dogwood

Mushroom!  Mushroom!

Wild/Thorny/Sitka Rose amidst Wild Geraniums.

Lupine

Fireweed

I feel like I've never seen so many flowers growing naturally in one place.  It's very distracting at times!  In addition to all the flowers, I've also gotten to see some wildlife recently.  Mostly some really cool bugs and insects, but I also got to see some Moose recently!

Luckily, I had decided to get a ride home from Security this evening, 'cause this Mama moose is headed straight for the trail that leads to my apartment.  I wish I could've gotten better photos, but the experience was just amazing!

These moths are flying around everywhere.  I've managed to catch a few as they aren't extremely wary of people like the butterflies are.  As I was setting one outside of the gift shop, I had a customer ask me what these bugs were, because she was certain they were too beautiful to be a dirty, old moth.  Poor moths, there's so much prejudice against them.

 Note: I did not kill this butterfly.  I found it like this and thought it would be great to get a picture of it, since the live ones are just too quick to get close enough for good pictures.

And now, for my all-time favorite Alaskan bug . . . this ridiculously long-antennaed little beetle.  I mean, just look at the size of those feelers!

The reason for the distance between this blogpost and the last one is partially due to laziness, but also due to the fact that I felt like I didn't have any awesome adventures to share.  Then, however, I began going through my pictures and realizing that I quite possibly should've split this into two blog posts with the amount of stuff I have to share.

First of all, Megan and I took another adventure into Talkeetna.  There's cottonwood trees here and on that day, the cotton was blowing everywhere.  I tried to capture a picture of it, but my camera just faded everything into the trees.  In any case, here's a view of Talkeetna main street.

Megan and I got dinner at the Denali Brewing Company.  She got some sort of Thai food and I had a very delicious burger.  We both got house-made Root Beer and it was pretty darn good.  It tasted almost exactly like sucking on a Root Beer Barrel.

Then, I don't remember if this was the same day or not, we got together with some friends (and strangers) and walked down to the Chulitna River.  Our property is perched on this sort of hilltop over this river, only about a ten minute walk away.  It was my first time walking down there; I'd only ever seen it from the road before.

View of Denali from the road

Megan's a lazy bum

 Sometimes, you think you know a great deal about a person.  And then you spend the summer with them in Alaska and start discovering things you never realized.  For example: did you know Megan talks in her sleep?  She's also extremely photogenic.  I mean, look at that candid pose!

Rather than fill my pockets and suitcases with rocks for my return journey, I decided taking a photograph would be simpler.  The one on the end looks like a potato!

 As many of you probably know, Alaska is the land of the midnight sun.  Because of science and the tilt of the earth, during Summer, Alaska gets nearly 24 hours of sunlight.  It's super cool.  Some people find it annoying because they like to be able to sleep or something like that, but I think it's amazing!  Well, just last week we had the Summer Solstice, which is the longest day of the year.  Our Naturalists here at the lodge led a midnight nature hike in honor of it.  And yes, these pictures really are from midnight and later (earlier?).  I've yet to experience Alaska any darker than this.

A glimpse of the "Great One" through the trees

Summer Solstice Selfie!

 The most recent adventure I was on, Megan and I took a jet boat tour to a place called Devil's Canyon.  It was so much fun!  The tour took us 60 miles up the Susitna River to Devil's Canyon, where we were able to safely observe some Class 6 rapids.  The tour took about 6 hours and was worth every minute of it.  We even got lunch while we were there!

Couple of Bald Eagles

The remains of an old Railway Inn

 One of the coolest things we saw on the tour were these little places where smaller streams and rivers flowed into the Susitna.  The Susitna is fed through glaciers and so it's full of silt during the early summer, whereas the streams run much clearer. Here you can see the stark difference in color between the two bodies of water.

Devil's Canyon itself:

On our way back from Devil's Canyon, we stopped and went on a short nature walk where they've set up small areas that look like an Athabascan fishing dwelling and a Trapper's Cabin.

 And that pretty much brings us up to date.  Goodnight all!