Winter

"Plants focus their energy below-ground, building strong root systems that help them to remain hardy for years to come."

We have hit the season where we are bereft of leaves and flowers, but we lack snow and icicles. It is a time when we have to work extra hard on creativity and our photographic eye. (Then in Spring we are working so hard to see interesting things that some of our synapses are blown.)

I had two things on my to-do list and I did both of them. My tree is up and my chicken wire is down. Chicken wire is different from saran wrap and tape. It is wrapped tight with ... wire. It was easy to see which was which on the more expensive roll but it took a minute with the less expensive roll. I have a wire cutter. I cut the correct wire. 

I'm looking into taking a trip in the US this summer. Everyone says Iceland is expensive but I'm not sure it is compared to the US, except for restaurants. Restaurants are probably more expensive because 
- food genuinely is more expensive, it is an island
- taxes
- they actually pay their staff. 

Which would you vote for:
- whale and puffin watching in Maine
- Oregon coast
- Iceland?

Britain is sending three military helicopters to Ukraine. Ukrainian crews were trained to fly and maintain the aircraft and to provide search and rescue capabilities. The UK will also send an additional 10,000 artillery rounds. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a new £50m package of defense aid including 125 anti-aircraft guns and equipment to counter Iranian-supplied drones. Finally, the UK is also supplying winter equipment, including heavy-duty sleeping bags and mats and cold-weather clothing.

The Russian military might be preparing to abandon the beleaguered Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Petro Kotin, president of Ukraine's nuclear energy operator Energoatom, said “Firstly, there are a very large number of reports in Russian media that it would be worth vacating the (plant) and maybe worth handing control (of it) to the (International Atomic Energy Agency - IAEA),” he said, referring to the United Nations nuclear watchdog. “One gets the impression they’re packing their bags and stealing everything they can.”

Former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly is raising funds to replace Ukrainian ambulances destroyed by Russian shelling. 

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has balked at sanctions aimed at Russia but now supports NATO bids for Sweden and Finland next year. Will Russian students one day learn that every bad act committed united the world in opposition and strengthened Ukrainian resolve? That every atrocity weakened their hand? 

Ten Iranian drone advisors who were in Crimea helping Russia to bombard Ukraine .... won't be helping anymore. The UK and the EU have announced sanctions on Iran for providing Russia with the Shahed-136 drones.

Ukrainian soldiers who defended Snake Island have been released in a prisoner exchange. These are the soldiers who told the Russian ship Moskva to f itself. Some of those captured were released in past prisoner exchange efforts.