mother nature's wardrobe...

last week i got to go out to our family cabin in talkeetna, alaska.  i'll post more pictures of the actual trip later, but for now i just wanted to share some photos of one of the reasons that i love, love, love alaska.  everytime i go outside it's a feast for my eyes - the colors are vivid, popping with life.  tomorrow i'm going to take a jaunt up to hatcher's pass, where the tundra is starting to turn red.  the beginning of the fall is my favorite time of year up here with all the colors and smells - especially the high bush cranberries.  i used to think that they stunk, but now all i smell is... fresh.  mmmm!
this is devil's club, a literal pain of a plant.  it's a plant that takes over the forest with huge leaves and thorny spines covering the stem and underside of the leaves.  when hiking, never grab a devils's club!  you'll be left with thorns in your hand, that will fester and hurt.  the upside of this plant is that it's gorgeous.  the 2nd photo below shows curtis, shawn, catheryn and cassidy in a clearing filled with devil's club - turning yellow with the fall.  this plant also has medicinal benefits.  it stabilizes blood sugar, body-balancing and system-strengthening qualities, cold and pain relief, skin irritations, scratches... and on and on and on.  it's in the same family as oriental ginseng.  anyhow, great but irritating plant.
look at those colors!  the green is lush, the red berries contrast so well with the green, the yellow pops...  *sigh*

here's two plants that contrast so well with each other - in color, shape and size.  the plant on the left is a currant and the plant on the right is a wild rose.  are your eyes feasting yet???

this last picture doesn't pop as much, but i still think it's eye candy of a different variety.  fall leaves are very individual and unique and this little leaf flaunts that quality.  and again, i love the contrast with the creek stones beneath.  (btw, if this photo looks like it should be rotated 90* to the left, you're right.  i'll have to figure out how to rotate it using blogger so i don't have to re-upload it)

also - do you like the background of my blog page?  i love it!  i took a bunch of photots last week of fireweed up on the side of mt baldy, overlooking meadow creek valley (aka my parents house).  the fireweed leaves have just started to turn red within the past couple of days so i need to get out there and take some new ones!