Yard Work.

Spent the Saturday afternoon hours in the yard, in the sun, and the dog spent those hours alternately in the sun and then, when she was sufficiently heated, up on the porch in the shade, overseeing the operation, which was the cutting back of the liriope, the dethatching of the daylilies, the trimming to the quick of the freeze-killed or near-killed Dusty Miller. We'll see if it comes back. It could come back. It'll probably come back. I've never seen Dusty Miller look so bad, though, which ought to tell you how our USDA Zone-7 winter went this year, which is to say, less Zone-7 than normal. And it's not over. Don't let this upcoming run of sixties fool you. Remember that March will show you new and different ways to break your heart, will soon enough send you running to the budded-out azaleas, frost-proofing bedsheets in hand.

Still: because you can smell spring out there, and becuase this reminds me of that old 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12 Sesame Street color scheme, your USDA Hardiness Zone map, in all its glory: