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Evergreen ivy, (Hedera helix), some variation of English ivy that has been planted here at the edge of the yard. It reddens in the winter cold, but it does not lose its leaves. It does not need to; they do not cluster out on the edge of branches like tree leaves. They do not threaten to open the ivy to disease or rot after a heavy winter storm as winter leaves on a large diciduous tree would. The English ivy can afford to be an evergreen in any climate. The varieties of this plant are almost uncountable, some poisonous, some invasive, like the British themselves, the English ivy seems to have imposed itself just about everywhere. It has a flexible but strong woody trunk capable of sprouting roots at every leaf juncture - it can break and still continue growing. I can remember a time when I thought an evergreen was a pine tree, rather than the other way around. I know several people who still make the same mistake. This is not the same individual plant, but it is also an evergreen and an English ivy (Hedera helix). They come in many forms, many varieties. This one grows more bushy and close to the ground, putting out many runners from a single center. The one above shoots out along two main branches - mass versus length. The grass also stays green, not the crabgrass or most broadleaf weeds species, but the thin leafed bluegrass. Photosynthesis lives on through the snow and cold. Winter mutes, but it does not halt. It gives some an advantage.

Across the Atlantic George's most disciplined minion, Ms. Rice, confirms torture and denies any ability to really make it go away. In Congress, Senators creep toward re-authorizing the suspension of civil liberties in the name of fighting boogie men. The whole edifice is growing transparent. Instead of the kinds of far-sighted policies being embraced by Al Gore five years ago (and still today) we have been driven into war, we further eroded social and ecological stability around the globe, and our heads of state justify torture in public.(!) It can get worse, apparently, before it gets better. They are like ivy, able to sprout even when they are broken.