Someone asked me the other day, “What’s good to plant this time of year?” It’s a good question.

It is time to stow away the summer fishing gear and prepare for winter interests. Crab season starts soon, and anglers are gearing up for fresh Dungeness crabs as the rockfish season — a good one this year — draws to a close.

Recent rainfall might have you thinking that El Niño conditions are indeed strengthening — as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association has predicted — and that this will be a wet winter. California does not always see an increase in precipitation during El Niño years, but we can always hope and be prepared.

Although many of us have shared a nature walk together this year, I am sometimes uncomfortable with the term “nature walk.” To really behold nature, one must sit quietly, still the mind, and listen and wait. Then, nature will reveal its humorous and tragic life to you.