i keep a folder on the desktop of my laptop labeled “in case of emergency.” it has STILL outtakes that simply haven’t make the cut. they are there in case a day gets away from me, and i can’t get a STILL photo made before the sun goes down. it is quite amazing, but in almost five years of doing STILL, i have very rarely, if ever, had to use it. (i am inordinately grateful for the relative life stability and calm implied by this fact, but i digress.) every now and then, i go look at the contents of the folder, and decide that indeed none of them are STILL-worthy, and delete the whole lot. well, today i had to use that folder! somehow, we still can’t explain how, the usb cord that lets me download photos from my camera to my laptop went missing. we have turned the house upside down searching for it. i composed and shot a STILL photo this morning, but it is currently locked inside my camera like gold inside a vault. we are driving to montpellier tomorrow to search out a replacement cable. wish me luck, and enjoy this squirrel-gnawed parasol pine cone. i didn’t know this until we spent time in the mediterranean, but the pine nuts we are mostly familiar with in the u.s. come from this species of pine. they are hidden near the core, with one nut for every “leaf” of the pine cone. i just hope that i never have to work as hard as this squirrel to get a handful of pine nuts for dinner.

red squirrel eaten parasol pinecone

autignac, france