Thanksgiving usually marks the unofficial beginning of the winter season where I live. It can snow any time now (although for the next 2 or 3 weeks, it would not be much). Most of the trees are bare and the summer vegetation is just about gone. The morning glory plants near my parking spot are also turning brown and dying. But one vine is dying hard. It tried to put out one last flower today, given the relatively mild temps over the past few days (in the lower 50s). There isn’t enough life left in the vine to push the flower to full bloom. But it still got pretty far, despite all of the brown leaves and yellowing vine stems surrounding it. So here’s a pic, with much admiration for those stubborn elements of nature that keep pushing for life even in the midst of decline and death.