What a morning to start a new year. New Year’s morning broke calm and mild, so mild I spent time outdoors on the deck enjoying the rising sun. Not only was it mild, English Daisies and Forsythia were in bloom.

2020 is the year of the rat, the first of the animals in the 12 cycle of zodiac animals. The rat beat all the other animals in the race to decide the order of the zodiac. Cleverly, he hitched a ride on the ox and just before the ox was about to step over the finish line, the rat jumped off in front of the ox and became the winner of the race.

A fitting morning for the dawn after the Solstice. It does feel like the dawn of a new year and the awakening of spring. The days are no longer getting shorter. This is a day worth celebrating. The new light will breathe life back into the woods.

Saturday morning the garden ducks were nowhere to be seen. Their swimming tank where they spend most of the day was quiet. I found them in the hoop house. It poured rain Friday night and it must have been too wet even for the ducks. I’m guessing that is why they went into the hoop house. It is raining too much when it is too wet for ducks.

This morning, they are back out in the garden, preening themselves after a good swim.

I like the soft indigo color the hydrangea flowers become in the fall. Their sky blue summer hues soften and age to this refined shade of indigo. A warm winter sweater of this color would look sublime.

We are deep into fall. The snow geese are back in droves. I’ve seen the first of the swans flying about. In another week or so, the sky will be full of mute and trumpeter swans who settle in the valley for the winter.

The leaves pile up and up. The rich leathery hues are calming. This year the falls color seem more brilliant than average.

I may have witnessed an event that happens only once in a million years, a dandelion in bloom at the same time the snow geese have arrived in the valley for the winter. On Monday we spotted snow geese for the first time this season. They were out on the flats between Samish Island and Bay View. Ribbons of them were still flying in off of Padilla Bay. The swans will be following them soon.

Speaking of dandelions, they are evidently a hotbed of controversy. Some botanists take the position that there are some 2,000 species of dandelions, while others put their feet down at just 60 species. I can only imagine the heated discussions botanists have arguing their opposing positions. 1,000 species versus 900 species is a quibble not worth a fuss. 2,000 versus 60 species is a row worth sticking your dukes up for.

No doubt friendships have been smashed, voices raised, possibly even fists flung in these taxanomic squabbles.

Oh well, a dandelion is a dandelion is a dandelion, unless it is a cat’s ear, coltsfoot, or hawkweed. Somewhere in the library stacks of a university is a spirited thesis, dripping with scorn and sarcasm, on the subject of dandelion classification a botanist has poured their heart into. It would be a good read by the fireplace on a dark, cold winter night. With the right director and cast, it could be made into an Oscar worthy movie.

The rains have stopped for now. The fall colors are lovely this year. With snow geese in the valley, winter is not far away.