Hi "Alaska" friends!

Boy, has it been a glorious summer here in south central Alaska so far. Lots and lots of sunshine, light breezes and temps hovering in the 70s during the day and high 50s at night. T-Shirt weather for sure!

The fireweed flowers are blooming riotously along every roadside - their vibrant deep pinks dot the landscape everywhere. sometimes sharing space with deep lavender and purple lupine. We had a real cloudburst rain storm the other day which thankfully has cleared much of the smoke sifting into our area from wild fires in the Interior of AK. The mountains were clearly visible this morning and just beautiful! There was even a dusting of snow at the top of Pioneer Peak over by Palmer.

Well, it's time to head outside and get some work done in the garden. It is growing in leaps and bounds. Hope to hear from you soon.

Here's the latest article from the Alaska site at BellaOnline.com.

Alaska's 50th Anniversary!
Alaska, the 49th and by far the largest state in the United States of America, celebrates its Golden Anniversary in 2009!

If you are visiting AK, live here or are planning a visit this year, be sure to check for local "Alaska anniversary activities"; they will be ongoing throughout the year. You can also pick up special 50th anniversary commemorative coins, postage stamps, logo T-shirts and so much more.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art62655.asp

Please visit alaska.bellaonline.com for even more great content about Alaska.

To participate in free, fun online discussions, this site has a community forum all about Alaska located here -

http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=433

I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum or in response to this email message. I thrive on your feedback!

Have fun passing this message along to family and friends, because we all love free knowledge!

Deb Frost, Alaska Editor
http://alaska.bellaonline.com

One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com