scientists in china recently found a golden chunk of 99 million year old amber with a tiny dinosaur tail covered with pristinely preserved feathers. it was a huge find and it made international news headlines. the amber adds to fossil evidence that many dinosaurs sported feathers rather than scales. they speculate that these early feathers were never intended for flight, but were either ornamental or used for insulation. and that the earliest dinosaurs did not roar, but rather cooed. i am endlessly in love with feathers, but do not have endless things to say about them, and i have posted a lot of them over the years. i’m pretty pleased with myself, to have come up with a connection between this feather and a 99 million year old dinosaur. and now it’s bedtime.

buse variable feather

autignac, france

what holds my attention in this image, is not the overall mushroomyness of the image, but the sumptuous crêpe texture of the of the dried gills. the mushroom caps look like large circle skirts, made from a two-toned beige and cream crêpe textile. you can image them swishing just so as you make your way across the dance floor. i’ll take one of those please, floor length, with a cream silk top. thank you. yes, mr. astaire. here i am. in heels.

dried funnel mushrooms

autignac, france

it is going to take a while before i get sick of photographing mostly white objects on a black background. these lunaria seed casings would have looked washed out and bland on a white background. i know, because i tried many times to get a photo that did them justice. then i moved to a new machine and pulled the lever.  the bells started ringing, and the lights started spinning, and a cascade of muted irridescent coins began to fall onto black velvet.

lunaria seed casings

autignac, france

this is the shell of a lettered cone snail, which is a predatory sea snail that hunts and eats marine worms. if you are fascinated by its beauty, as i am, you are not alone. even 5000 years ago in mesopotamia, inhabitants of the first urban settlement, called uruk, made necklaces by stringing cone shells together. beauty is in the eye of the beholder, yes, but sometimes beauty is just right there in front of you.

lettered cone shell (conus litteratus)

uzès, france

what i love about this photo is the animalistic thorny spine that makes you want to see this leaf as something alive and a little bit menacing. it’s just a leaf. but it might be something else. beware.

dried teasel leaf

autignac, france