Winter winding down

I took this picture yesterday (Saturday). It's a bit blurry, but I think it's a clump of female catkins from an alder tree, and alder pollen was the likely culprit of my allergy attack Friday night.

I also took this picture, showing that the deck is still a bit forlorn in the late winter, drifts of leaves, wet surfaces, moss in the cracks.

I do not have Marianne Dashwood's passion for dead leaves.

But because this is the Evergreen State, the yard stays nice and green all winter. There actually are buds in some of the trees and shrubs. Spring is almost here.