Political matters out of Washington continue to dominate rent-free space in my head. Today I came across a succinct quote from one of the founding parents:
“The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny,” James Madison warned in Federalist No. 47.
Watching television news is definitely not good for my mental health, so getting out in the Garden was a very pleasant diversion. Sandy and Sheila were out for various reasons and that left me on my own for making Nature's Notebook observations.
It's winter and that means most of our species under observation are dormant. There are a few green leaves on one chamisa (Ericameria nauseosa) and the cholla's fruits (Cylindropuntia imbricata) still can't decide if they are green or yellow.
This time of year if there's something up in a cottonwood, it's either a snoozing porcupine or a cluster of mistletoe. Today I saw only the latter.
Now that it's January, River of Lights is over and the crews are out dismantling the displays. It will take them weeks to undo all the zillions of lights and pack everything away until next fall. Let's hope that they don't clobber too many of the new labels in the process.
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| Datura in the Cottonwood Gallery |
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