It's very strange how some "El Nino-like" patterns have shown up, such as the deluge California got not too long ago. And where I live in western Washington State, it seems like winter started to pop it's ugly head up in December, January has been more like March around here. Recently I've noticed that the frogs out in the wetland behind our house have been croaking-they normally don't until March. Our early spring season flowering shrubs have been blooming; I've seen humming birds outside and also hornets have been flying around lately. And the geese never left when autumn showed up. But I'm not complaining. My only concern is that we might have an infestation of wasps and hornets this year (if) it turns out that many of them have not died off during the winter months. They might be a foot long by the time April comes around.