I do enjoy a good snowstorm. I needed to be forced indoors to attend some long-neglected tasks. I did need to take a road trip over to my big vegetable garden on Sunday. I have a barn cat there who needed a can of wet food. He’s completely cozy in a shed with a down comforter but it was so cold I worried about his water situation.

I did some major trudging. In a few places the drifts were thigh high. It was beautiful, however, with the wind-sculpted drifts around the spent flower stalks. I admired a row of sedum with just their flowers above the snow.

Sadly, I could not open the greenhouse. The enormous drift in front of the door was frozen solid and naturally my shovel was inside. I peeked through a tiny hole in the plastic and saw a world of green. Remarkable, since there is no heat and only one thin layer of six-millimeter plastic protecting it from the tundra.

Speaking of remarkable, on Sunday morning a giant fly came into the house. How is that even possible? It was well below freezing. I spent some time chasing him around with the swatter.

Last week I noticed the crape myrtle in front of the Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank branch in North Tisbury. The setting sun had turned the exfoliating bark a beautiful crimson. Trees take on a whole other dimension in the dead of winter. It pays to be observant.

My poor chickens refuse to come out of the coop. They are completely disoriented with snow on the ground. I tossed some wood ash around so they could get their bearings. I then promptly tracked most of it into the kitchen. Such is life.

I spent time poring over seed catalogs. I want some sweet potato starts. Usually they come in bundles of 25 plants. Often they are dried up and too late so I am trying an experiment. I purchased some organic ones from the market. I saved the ends as I made a batch for supper. I think I can use toothpicks to hold them on the top of a water glass. Seems like they would want to root.

Sweet potatoes are cousins to morning glories. They are quite pretty growing in a garden bed. Will let you know if they, in fact, take root and produce a plant.

Tuesday’s Science section of The New York Times had an article entitled Dinner Is Being Tweaked. It seems scientists have been working on a process called gene-editing. This is different than genetic modification in that the plant's own DNA is slightly tweaked to, say, prevent a potato from turning brown or a soybean might have a change in its fatty acids. The big difference is that we the consumer do not need to be informed that this process is taking place. Last year’s congressional bill requiring labels on GMO’s does not apply to gene-editing. It is time to do some serious saving of seed in the home garden. I

usually buy heirlooms or open-pollinated varieties since I would like the option each year of saving seeds. Of course, I am usually too busy to follow my own advice. Take my advice, I’m not using it.

I just finished watching the farewell address of President Obama. What an awesome man. I don’t care if one agrees with him politically but his example of humble, measured, thoughtful, scandal-free leadership was a gift to our country. The stark contrast between him and his successor is striking and troubling. It is amazing that our incoming president is cavalier concerning Russian involvement in our election process. Yet, he takes the time to early-morning tweet about an “overrated” (his word) Hollywood actress.

I also find it remarkable that he denies mocking a disabled reporter 100 times (again, his words) when we all have the Google and saw it repeatedly.

The best one this week was Kellyanne Conway saying we shouldn’t listen to his words but see what’s in his heart. Wait! What?