Spring

Is really not that far away, especially here in the '05.  I noticed this morning that the heavy rains we've had off and on this week have stripped most of the dead leaves from those trees that bother to shed them in this biome*.  The early risers, southern maple mostly, have already got their dark red buds out.  In honor of the season, and because I have a bare spot where last winter's record cold killed my pygmy date palms, I planted some veggies:  leaf lettuce, spinach and peas.  If all goes well, I'll be eating them with some grilled lamb by late March. 

Last night was almost balmy, the first hint of season change, when my friend and I went to Intuition Aleworks, a new microbrewery that just opened up the street.  We stood outside in shirtsleeves drinking our Riverside Red and I-10 IPA while the pizza man made us woodfired pizzas.  We tried the Campania, ricotta, handmade fennel sausage, frsh mint and garlic, and the Pesto, with artichoke hearts and fresh mozzarella.  Loved em both but still digging the Toscana, with prosciutto and arugla, the best so  far.  Also found out you can get gallon "growlers" for $20 bucks there and full kegs of the best craft beer I've had since I used to make it for $160.  Something to keep in mind when spring really does get here (It will probably give us an extended preview mid-February, then arrive in full force in mid-March).

*From Wikipedia:  Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms,^[1] and are often referred to as ecosystems.

Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests are a forest biome. They are located in regions of semi-humid climate at tropical and subtropical latitudes.