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It's almost Christmas, and there's a lot of confusion around here due to the warm weather; the chipmunk who lives under the birdfeeder is awake and out and about, cadging for sunflower seeds; the garden doesn't know whether to go to sleep for the winter, or to get ready to party; and the intrepid resident gardener is up in the air about where this will all lead... to an early spring, or to disaster. I think back to when I was young; my mother was well versed in all manner of folk wisdom ( she made me jump about three feet when she once looked out the window and screamed; a bird was looking in the window, and this meant someone in the family was going to die). When we would have remarkably mild early winters like this, she'd always say that we'd pay for it later; I would picture some ancient scribe up in the sky, keeping track of all of this, making sure nobody got away with anything. So, we'll see how it all plays out; in the meantime, walking around out in the wooded garden to do my usual winter pruning and cleanup, is rather tricky, as there are thousands and thousands of flower bulbs poking up everywhere, so you constantly have to watch where you're stepping. Below are shown some snowdrops, with the one on the left almost ready to open up; it is to remain mild the rest of the week, and it may decide to go ahead and bloom.