The afternoon sky is oppressively gray, the forest a drab blend of browns and grays. High winds born in the Pacific have carried yet another mass of warming air into Anchorage.
Thick clouds push against the landscape, darkening winter's already short and weakly sunlit days.
While skiers, mushers and other snow worshipers bemoan our strangely mild entry into winter, I celebrate with frequent walks along the Turnagain Arm Trail. This woodland path in South Anchorage has become a favorite place to observe how the local forest and its inhabitants shift and adapt to seasonal, and even daily, variations in light and weather. There are times in deepest winter when little seems to change for weeks on end. For day afterday, the only animals I'll see or hear are red squirrels or black-capped chickadees. Hiking the trail on this somber afternoon, I wonder how Anchorage's wildlife has been affected by the season's unusually warm weather.