If you did a web search on “photos of icky fall colors” on local social media pages, your eyes would blur at the thousands of images flashing by. You don’t need the Betster to chronicle the subtle shift in Homer seasons, not when hundreds of citizen photographers stand ready with cell phone cameras.
Click! Oh look, that Devil’s Club leaf is turning yellow. Click! Oh my, the fireweed flowers have quit blooming and the leaves are turning purple. Click! The lupines have turned to seed.
Yeah, yeah, the Betster gets it. Summer is winding down. Bright, alert kids with hip new haircuts and fresh hoodies can hardly wait until Tuesday morning when school starts. Heck, teachers and staff have already been getting up at oh dark hundred to start their day. At some schools, the year has already begun.
No, that doesn’t count as the end of summer. Sure, for children their long vacation has ended. Look outside, though. Do you see that sun? Do you see those people walking around in shorts and T-shirts? The other day the Betster saw a guy in a Speedo swimsuit, and he wasn’t paddling across the bay like Claudia Rose. (See related story.)
And motorhomes. We still have lots of motorhomes in town, which ought to be evidence enough summer hasn’t ended. Many of these motorhomes have Lower 48 license plates. If fall was coming, they’d be booking it south to avoid getting caught in a Yukon snowstorm. The Betster has even seen motorhomes with foreign plates — quite a few, actually, big boxy things on Mercedes Benz Unimog frames. What’s up with that? It’s another one of those mystery traveling groups who come to the end of the road.
We have restrooms to build and roofs to get on and gardens to still harvest and decks to build and adventures to do. Summer is not over. Never mind those fall colors. Here in the far north, we count our seasons two ways: snow, not snow. Freezing, not freezing.
We still have long daylight hours to do what we need to do, so get out and enjoy August, perhaps with these Best Bets:
BEST SO LONG AND THANKS FOR ALL THE TUNES BET: Yeah, this happens a lot. You meet someone and just when you get to know them, they leave town, dang it. Say good-bye today at the monthly chamber mixer to Homer Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center Executive Director Monte Davis as he and his wife Joanne head south for new adventures. The mixer is 5-7 p.m. at the chamber. Accounting firm Muslow & Juneau are the hosts.
BEST ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT BET: The Roustabout Circus has been holding workshops all week to teach kids cool circus skills like juggling and riding a unicycle. See what they’ve learned in a performance at 7 p.m. Friday at Christian Community Church. Admission is “pass the hat.”
BEST DISCO KING BET: Moliere as a musical in 1960s Paris? Mais oui! And why not? Moliere’s classic play, “The Imaginary Invalid,” has been revised with a modern setting. The play opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Pier One Theatre and continues Saturday and Sunday. It features Pier One stalwarts Ken Landfield, Jessica Williams, Peter Norton and returning artist Kevin Ray Johnson. Tickets are $16 at the Homer Bookstore.
BEST BLESS THEM ALL BET: That would be all creatures great and small. If you have a pet or livestock and are looking for a little back-up from the Supreme Shepherd, bring them by Homer United Methodist Church from 10 a.m.-noon Saturday for the Blessing of the Animals. Animals must be leashed, caged, carried or in trailers. A love offering will be taken for Homer Animal Friends.
