Old time Alaskans tell me that fireweed indicates the change from summer to winter.  All summer, the fireweed can be seen as a timer.  At first, the bottom blooms, with a long stem of blossoms yet to come.  As the summer wears on, you see the first blossoms die as the blooms creep higher up the stem.  When the last blossom blooms, there is seven weeks till winter.  Or the first snowfall.  Tradition is a little uncertain on this one.  Anyways.

Between summer and winter is the prettiest season: fall.  All the leaves on the trees turn yellow, adding drama to the mountainsides.  The fireweed turns to a firey red, and all the tundra comes alive with fall colors.  Termination dust (snow) starts in the tops of the mountains, creeping its way lower and lower until there is snow on the ground. 

How do I know all these things will happen?  Because it happens every year.  I was reading somewhere (I'm pretty sure it was CS Lewis, but not positive) that God created the changing of seasons because humans need both consistency and change.  We find security in knowing what is coming, but when we things don't change, we get stuck in a rut.  Therefore, with the constant change of seasons, we have security in knowing what is coming, while things are constantly in motion around us.  God created us with those needs and He created the world to fill them.