The main new thing we did today was to go to the Creamer's Field Migratory Water Fowl Refuge.  With a name that long it should be a very good place to go.  And it was good.  It started as a dairy over 100 years ago.  At that time it was the only dairy around.  They had (and still have) an Iowa style barn that would hold 50 milking cows.  With the winters so cold the cows stayed in the barn all winter.  For that many cows for such a long winter they needed a lot of hay so the floor of the hay loft was lowered to just a few feet above the cows' heads.  More buildings were added and more cows to fill them.  When WWII came and the building of the Alaska Highway the dairy had a contract to supply the army base with milk.  The dairy had over 200 cows until faster transportation from areas south where having a dairy was less costly finally made Creamer's Dairy economically unfeasible.  The man who owned the dairy loved birds.  The dairy with the grain crops and cow manure made the fields supporting the dairy the migratory water fowl's favorite stopping point.  By this time many people of Fairbanks enjoyed stopping along the road and watching the birds.  So the owner of the dairy sold it to the city of Fairbanks and to the Alaska Fish and Game Department.  Now the people of Fairbanks feel the Refuge is "theirs."

The dairyman owned about 200 acres but the state has added more land and now the whole place is about 2000 acres.  Part of it is a boreal forest.  That simply means it is a northlands forest.  We showed up for a nature walk in the forest.  And we were the only ones who showed up for the nature walk.  So the two of us had a two-hour guided tour of a boreal forest.  A few of the things we learned:
--There are three conifer and three deciduous trees native to the area.  Conifer are larch, white spruce, and black spruce.  Deciduous are aspen, birch, and poplar.  The poplar are actually cottonwood.  There are no hardwood trees.
--Controlled burns are actually good for the entire ecosystem.
--Some of the plants are calla lilies, wild iris, wild roses, cranberries, blueberries, various grasses, and the trees mentioned above.
--The only amphibian here is a frog that actually freezes during the winter and then comes back to life in the spring.
--There are squirrels here that do not hibernate but slow down during the winter to conserve energy.
--We saw more mosquitoes at Creamers Field in two hours than all the rest of the time we have been here.
--Frost heaves do not affect only the roads.  A wooden walkway was "heaved" a couple feet in some places.  In the seasonal freezing and thawing deep cracks sometimes form in the ground.  These fill with water.  These then freeze widening the crack.  As the crack widens the ground next to it has to go somewhere and pushes upward, forming a heave.

Even though visiting Creamer's Field is free they do ask for a donation.  The state owns it but a non-profit is in charge of the nature center and some of the historical displays.

It still amazes me that people, animals, and plants find a way to thrive in these harsh conditions.  People naturally strive  to fill the earth and subdue it.

Sorry, we are not good at remembering our camera.  We will try to do better.

God's blessing to all.

Larry and Elva