A seasonal miracle

So it happens every year....and today was the day. The green sheen has returned, signaling the beginning of winter!

I've been watching for it because we've had some nice rainy days with enough precipitation to soak the ground. Tuesday it wasn't there. I looked out of the kitchen window this morning as I was making coffee -- about 7 or so -- and *thought* I might see something. A little later, with a little more light, there it was...under the golden, dried grasses of summer was a hint of green.

I called Tony over to the window and pointed it out, and I swear, it got greener as we watched. Strands of green grass are poking through the matted summer coat, especially where it's more worn, like the deer paths. By late afternoon there were swaths striping the land.

I love watching this. I love this season of dormancy and returning to the underworld -- you remember the myth of Persephone and the pomegranate seeds? The leaves fall, plants die back -- although their roots may busily be growing deep in preparation for spring -- the harvest comes in, another growing season is complete. And yet....in California at least....it is green in the winter.