An Auspicious Beginning

Watching the sun come up over the ridge is something I enjoy doing. This morning, on the first day of 2009, something special greeted me. For the first time in my life I saw not just one, but two sun dogs standing like pillars on either side of the sun as it peeked over the top of the ridge at sunrise. I managed to snap a picture of the sun dog to the south. Perhaps if I had suited up and gone outside I could have gotten the whole scene, but more likely by the time I got dressed and out there the whole thing would have been gone. It's cold today . That's not a surprise since the sun dogs are made by the refraction of light on crystals of ice.

Now begins planning on this years garden in earnest. It's a fine day to sort through the seeds on hand. There are always some seeds left over from planting last year, seed packets we never got around to opening, and seeds saved from the garden.It might seem like more seeds would be unnecessary, but they really are. Besides seed catalogs are some of the best entertainment there is for a gardener in January.