Its that time again.   The Alaskan summer is ending and its only September.

Just a month ago we had 22 hours of daylight, but each week now we are losing almost an hour of daylight.   By September 21 we'll be down to 12 hours of daylight.....and 12 hours of darkness.  And by December 21 we'll only get two hours of glorious Alaska winter sunlight.  You really appreciate seeing the sun when there is only two hours of daylight.

Thats why right now the time is growing short to get ready for winter.   Its the last chance for long summer drives in the sunlight.   Its the last chance to wear shorts.   Its the last chance to sit outside and enjoy a beer.   Its the the last chance to feel warm, and not wear a heavy parka and winter boots.   

The summer is ending and the fall is here.   It all happens very quickly.   One day its 70 degrees and the next day the leaves start turning yellow and a week later they all are yellow.   A week after that the temperatures are in the 50s and the leaves start falling.   And not long after that the leaves are all down, and they tree branches stand stark and bare in the cold and the frost is here.  

Its time.  Its time to get ready for winter.     But right now I'm enjoying every second of the fall.   I did a beautiful drive down the Alaska highway today.   And you'll never imagine what I found.  

Just down the Alaska Highway from me sits an unusual Chevy Truck with a crane mounted in the front.  But why in the front?   Because THIS IS THE TRUCK THAT BUILT THE ALASKA HIGHWAY.   The highway was built in six months in 1942.   The US Army cut the route through 1500 miles of virgin forest.   And this is the truck that dragged all those trees away and stacked them beside the road.   This is the truck that lifted the trees again and dragged them and and dumped them back in the frozen muck to build up the road bed.   This the truck that hauled out all the other trucks that got stuck in the mud.   This is the truck that made it all the way to Alaska.   THIS IS THE TRUCK THAT BUILT THE ALASKA HIGHWAY.   And now this grand old truck and all the history it represents sits abandoned and rusts and rots away in the forest near my cabin in Alaska.