As storms go, Riley was only semi-memorable. The bombogenic gale did, it's true, craft its own version of natural forestry and took down a number of trees on the ridge and beyond, many of which took down power lines as they came to earth. But our lights came back on a little past midnight, so a half-day outage is minor, minor, minor. I didn't even get a chance to turn on the generator. In the morning, with the wind still strong and a need to wear a hard-hat to avoid getting clobbered by still falling branches, I hazarded a quick scan of the homefront and, amidst a new mulch of cast-off twigs, I discovered that more than two inches of nor'east rain brought more of our garden hardies out of the ground. The Hellebores—both the Christmas and Lenten varieties—are starting to show flower buds. With a little bit more warmth, these horticultural gems will take center floral stage.