roll of the dice

Awoke this morning to the sound of rain pattering on the asphalt shingles. At least it sounded like rain. In fact it was a wet mix of slush and rain that closely resembled snow but wasn't. So much for rolling the dice and underestimating mother nature's furious fickleness. Will have to wait and see what the day brings, but at least the precipitation's done with (for now) and the soupy, iced manifestation of an anxious gardener's worst early-spring nightmare will soon vanish. Hopefully, anyway. The ground did not freeze, and with temps hovering well above 32 F there is reason to be optimistic that all is not lost. There are extra seedlings to fill in the ranks, besides. Though it's much too soon to gauge whether the seedlings planted yesterday will tolerate this affront on their vigor so early in life, they have a genetic predisposition for cold-hardiness on their side. God speed little ones.