ferns of a feathers

ferns of a feathers

i had ferns drying in three different corners of of my house. today i gathered them all up into one place, and in the process this photo sort of made itself. it reminds me of the fan of a pheasant or peacock tail, or the tail of some mutant lyre bird. which in turn makes me realize how similar ferns are to feathers in the first place. it’s funny how we crave making connections. really this is just a spill of ferns. and look how i have turned it into a fan, a tail, and feathers.

dried summer ferns

  • Carol says:

    Beautiful- it looks very Victorian whatever it is

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where the glass is

where the glass is

i love sea glass and have spent many happy hours sifting through the pebbles of lake superior beaches looking for specks of rounded and polished glass. but minnesota in particular, and america in general is a place where we tend to throw away cans more often than bottles, and beer more often than wine. it wasn’t until i sat on a mediterranean beach, just ashore from centuries of ships stocked with bottles of wine, that i understood what sea glass was all about. there is a famous line from willie sutton, who said he robbed banks because “that’s where the money is.” i sit on the beach just outside of sète france, because that’s where the sea glass is.

mediterranean sea glass

  • Patty says:

    I gasped when I saw today’s still! Now I’m even more excited to comb Irish beaches in the week that follows this one. Any experience there?

    reply
    • Hello Patty,
      I am flattered I made you gasp. I can’t think of a better compliment. I have never been to Ireland. Hoping to get there some day. You will have to report back to me on how good the beach combing is–because plans will have to be accordingly. Naturally.
      Enjoy!
      Mary Jo

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what’s left above the snow

what’s left above the snow

the snow here has buried almost everything except houses and trees. even the rigid cattails have succumbed and fallen under hummocks of white. the only thing i saw above the snowbank this morning were some tall grasses, with seeds ready to drop when all this frozen water has turned to liquid and saturated the soil. best of luck to you, friends. may your fortitude bring you abundant children.

northern lights tall grass

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not quite

not quite

it’s hard to make a really moody picture on a bright white background. a moody photo wants to have hidden depths, to recede into shadow. a white background does too good a job of illuminating and defining edges. i had in mind that there might be an interesting tension between the incipient decay of these dried smoke tree leaves, and the somewhat cheery, bright white behind them. in the end i don’t think i captured what i was after. or maybe the tension just isn’t there. i am no less fascinated with smoke tree leaves for all that, and i like this arrangement, which i feel i can practically hear rustling in a fall breeze. but that’s not what i was after. not quite.

  • Ginny says:

    Might have been moodier last year when you were working on a black background? Parts of it would almost mysteriously disappear. They really are wonderful leaves!

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ring of fire

ring of fire

sometimes a few individuals come together to form something new and it is impossible to see them any other way after that. where do these partridge feathers end, and the pentagonal star at their center begin?

partridge feathers (perdrix)

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