An overcast sky predicts rain today.
Traditionally, August is the rainiest month of the year in Fairbanks.
Last year rain drizzled every day of the Tanana Valley Fair. Perhaps this year will be different.
July was hot this year. As a result the interior of Alaska was raging with forest fires, the 2nd worst season since 1950.
Any rain will be welcome.
A strong possibility exists for a frost this month.
Most of the gardens will be harvested before Labor Day.
The only crop that will still be in the ground is potatoes which grow very well in the Interior climate.
Advertising for the Tanana Valley Fair usually takes advantage of any the puns available from the slogan. This year is no different, although the theme chosen for 2002 was "There's No Place Like Home",
in view of the events of September 11.
Cabbage, broccoli, lettuce and carrots outsize any produce you come by in the lower 48 states.
I've seen 50-pound cabbages at the
Tanana Valley Fair more than once.
Excitement fills the air. Children enter their drawings.
Cooks enter their best recipes with the prospect of bringing home a blue ribbon. One year my lemon meringue pie won a blue ribbon. Perhaps I ought to try and develop a wheat-free version.
Local crafts people display their artistry.
Let's buy a gift labeled "Made in Alaska".
By the end of August, the children will be returning to school.
Darkness falls at night.
Twenty-four-hour daylight will soon be a memory.
