January begins with fireworks and resolutions.  The first day is bright and promising, but by mid-month we grow tired of the gloom, the ice and those dark after-dinner dog walks.  Have you ever tried to pick up poop in the pitch black nothingness? It’s tricky.  But a walk through the school arboretum reveals wonderful textures and surprising colors.  It reminds me that the plants keep growing.  Some of them even put on their best show without the distraction of lush green foliage.  The textures and lines are distinctive and startling.  I love the little seed balls that hang merrily from the Dove tree, like decorative ornaments left over from Christmas time.  I admire the twists and turns of the contorted filbert, snaking it’s way around like a puzzle.  I adore the evergreen Salal, our Northwest sturdy native with it’s prizewinning green.  And the witchazel  and Dawn Viburnum give me the promise of Spring.  January does have it’s moments.