But sunsets during winter are sometimes brilliant. I took this February sunset photo about five minutes before sundown. This is a great time of the day to go outside and look for colors in the clouds.

There's a poetic name for the phenomenon of winter leaf retention in trees, "marcescence." This word comes from the Latin verb "to shrivel." And shrivel these leaves do, but fall they don't.

We also noticed a 3-foot-tall shagbark hickory that was holding onto its leaves, which can occur in younger trees. My sister’s Japanese maple is awash with brown curly leaves, even in February.