MARTHA'S FANTASTIC GARDEN IN WINTER

WEDNESDAY MORNING'S STRUGGLING SUN

PICTURESQUE BLACK WILLOW

PATHWAY, PLANTS AND GARDEN ORNAMENTS

...DITTO

BLACK WILLOW AND WEST ENTRANCE TO GARDEN

Wednesday, 9:00 AM.  -3 degrees F, wind WNW, light with stronger gusts.  The sky is clear except for copious amounts of "lake smoke" obscuring the rising sun.  The humidity is down, to 78%, the barometer is up, to 30.48" and we got another 2" of snow last night.

   I thought it would be interesting to take some photos of Martha's Garden in winter (search "Martha's Fantastic Garden on the blog search engine).  It was interesting indeed but also very cold and snow bound.  I stepped out of the truck and was immediately stuck in snow above my knees.  Thus anchored, I took a few frozen photos and gave up.  Martha's garden is under several  feet of snow, the pathways barely discernible and most of the plants buried.  The old black willow on the west side of the garden does wear its wintry mantle with considerable dignity and style, but most everything else is a white-out.  Maybe I'll try again when we get a January thaw.
   I am becoming more and more mystified by the impropriety of the President's actions.  Nelson Mandela was a hero to his people and a role-model for the world, and the president had every reason to attend his memorial service in South Africa.  But he did not attend Margaret Thatcher's funeral, a great leader of the Free World and a staunch friend and ally of the United States.  He mandated lowering the US flag to half staff for Mandela, but not for Margaret Thatcher.  Who was the greater friend of the United States?  I am not much in favor of lowering the American flag for anyone or anything not American, but certainly it would have been more appropriate to so honor Margaret Thatcher and Great Britain.  He has recently snubbed Israel and its Prime Minister while secretly cozying up to Iran.  And he evidently did not just perfunctorily shake Raul Castro's hand at Mandela's memorial, he stopped and talked to a man who has been a mortal  enemy of the United States for over half a century (has the President not heard of the Cuban Missile crisis?).  I am truly perplexed.