h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The winter hasn't been all that bad so far, compared to some that we've had. Nevertheless, it's my nature to want to keep it at bay. Just because it's been mild so far, that doesn't mean I want a sudden bout of really cold temps or an ice storm or two feet of snow.

In that vein, I want to use this journal to highlight some of my alliesi in the fight against wintry excess:

1. Exhibit A is the lush green Coneflower leaves in a planter on my porch. I've just gotten up from my computer to open the door and admire them. Granted, there are four other planters on the porch, and the coneflowers in them are all dormant now. These must be super-hardy.

2. The bunny that ran under my car yesterday. Also, the geese down by the river. I give them kudos for acting as if being out in the wintry weather is the most normal thing there is.

3. The holly on the entrance ramp. Likewise the dwarf Alberta spruces. Granted, they like even colder winters than we are having now, but the current mildness seems not to phase them. And they'll do fine if it gets colder.

4. Black-eyed Susans, a.k.a. Rudbeckia. These plants are almost evergreens in the sense that by the end of every growing season they have put out a new generation of little plants from the roots. Those leaves are small but green, and they stay green even if there are leaves or snowdrifts on top of them. Matter of fact, Rudbeckia should be the subject of the next entry I submit to Peer Review. Who knows, maybe I can write such a dazzling entry that it will get to the Edited Guide in record time. (Dream on, paulh.) Well, a guy can dream....

They can't hold out forever, but I take some comfort from seeing that they are still green.