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.

Many of us garden in the shade year-round. Others have sun in the summer, but shade from fall through spring, as the sun’s arc becomes lower in the southern sky. Here are some encouraging tips if this describes your garden.