adolescence

i’m still fascinated by how we form mental images of plants and flowers at their peak of maturity and ripeness. daisies are white with yellow centers. cattails are topped by hot-dog shaped seed pods. and sumac seedheads are deep scarlet. but daisies are still daisies when they are 3 inches tall and cattails are still cattails when they are brown winter stalks, and sumac is still sumac when it is an adolescent rose blush, instead of a wine-dark fall red.

female staghorn sumac fruit in june