Hope is.....

Honestly I don't have much to add to all the observations posted by area bloggers with regards to plants saved, plants lost, speculation as to what will withstand another blast of cold air and what will not.

Between disasters in Haiti that provide a perspective on the true definition of calamity and political events that reveal the back and forth reality of our human condition as we seek to pretend we rule ourselves, I find myself not defeated precisely, but quieted.

Me being me I took camera in hand and forced myself, after a bit of obligatory watering, to try a bit of a wider look, a softer focus. To see if there was really anything out of doors waiting for me other than my unfortunate three-four week long "Tasks Remaining Undone" visual listing tendency.

Oh, people. Nobody should be surprised to hear that the rest of the world has gone right along creating and destroying, being beautiful and awe inspiring and wonderful, without my watching.

And there is the center of it, really, as far as I am concerned.

Here I was being all me-me-me, thinking it was what I was noticing and what I was feeling, what I was doing or more lately, not doing, that counted.

And sure, what I do has an impact, but thankfully....with the deepest reverence and relief I am reminded by looking around that life is so persistent. Creation keeps on re-creating itself, in all its myriad forms. All I need to do is breathe, and watch. (Note: There is a snake photo in the slideshow to follow, just a warning to avert your eyes for my snake-a-phobic friends.)

UPDATE: Snake identification information from local expert Jerry Cates: "The snake is likely a juvenile Colubrid, in the genus Elaphe. It is almost certainly a Texas rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta lindheimeri), as the markings on the dorsal head are typically what we'd see in that species. Two related species, the southwestern rat snake (Elaphe guttata emoryi) and the corn snake (Elaphe guttata guttata), both look very much like this specimen, but have a set of "spear points" on each side of the head emanating from the first dark saddle on the neck, stretching forward over the eyes continuously to near the dark eye mask that passes through the eyes and over the nose. Instead this one has two paddles that break into smaller, discrete markings on the crown, characteristic of the Texas rat snake.

This is a very beneficial snake, and is not venomous, but it does prey on our birds along with its favorite source of food, mice and rats."