It seems as if we've hardly had a winter here this year. Yes, there *has* been a lot of rain, leading me to wonder just how long roses can sit with their roots in standing water without croaking. But it isn't cold, nothing's going dormant -- in fact my plum tree is starting to bloom! It usually blooms in February, but this is early. The early narcissus are done! We're just moved into spring from fall, without winter. I hope we don't get one of those brutal times in March when everything freezes and all of the new growth and buds are stricken. It's been known to happen. So I'm not counting any chickens yet. But I *am* still picking roses. I had a beautiful bouquet for Christmas and still find blooms undamaged by the rains and winds that I can enjoy. I pruned Lady Hillingdon to keep it from getting moved around in the hole too much by the wind and I have a nice bunch of them on the table. Crepuscule just never stopped and is in full bloom! Mme. Alfred Carriere keeps going. Also Excelsa, Betty Prior, Elsie Poulsen, Cramoisi Superieur, Altissimo, Happenstance and R. alba 'Semi Plena' is totally confused and has both hips and blooms on it. Too weird. But I do enjoy the rosy bonus. The real sign of winter around here however, is reassuringly present. And that is the return of the seasonal bird voyagers who winter here. My great favorites are the big beautiful Tundra Swans who fly in in late December and take up residence in the Stornetta's pea fields and pastures just to the south of us, along the banks of the Garcia River. These fields are a flood plain right at the level of the river and are covered with water during each major rainfall. The frog population is plentiful and is also drawing a contingent of Common Egrets who join the Great Blue Herons in the same fields, enjoying nature's largesse. I'm not sure what the swans are eating, but there seems to be plenty of it in those fields because they are quite noisily engaged in feasting and flying and socializing -- much like the inhabitants of New York City who make a seasonal flight to Miami Beach for a couple of the worst months of winter. The swans are *very* large birds, looking a lot like geese (and sounding like them too) but are even bigger, with longer legs and long, graceful necks. They are pure white. There are hundreds of them scattered around the green, green fields. They give me a thrill every year and I know that something is still right with the world when they appear again.