why iridescence?

why iridescence?

i always figured male mallards had iridescent feathers so they could compete for female attention. but i just discovered that some scientists think iridescence can confuse predators, improve water repellence, reduce friction, and help with thermoregulation. so maybe they aren’t just show-offs after all.

mallard feather

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what’s next?

what’s next?

it’s getting time to decide what to do with still blog next year. i won’t even pretend that there’s a chance i will give it up. it’s like one of my limbs at this point, and stopping would feel very much like an amputation. but i’m not sure i’ve done justice to my black backgrounds this year, and i’m finding i’m missing working on white. on the other hand, i don’t necessarily want to just go back to the past. i’d like to find a way to “retreat forward” if that makes sense. i don’t have any answers right now, but i’m grateful to have you along for this ride, and i hope to continue to earn your visits, and your inspiring company. stay tuned.

common mullein seedhead

  • Dede Bliven says:

    There have been times this year that I have gasped because the work on black has been so stunning and other times I wonder if one of your treasures would shine more on white. Maybe that could be a new direction by playing with different backgrounds. No matter what you do, your work will continue to inspire all of us!

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  • Nancy B. says:

    I agree with Dede completely. IF it is not too difficult – to switch from one to the other – your eye and the subject will guide you. INSPIRED! every day!! Thank you!

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stored energy

stored energy

occasionally i get the feeling that i have expended too much creative energy and not added to my reserves. i say that i’m tapped out, or that my well is try, and it’s time to fill it again. but that might be too shallow an image. last year when we were in france it was as if i was undergoing a huge seasonal rebirth. my creative energy felt completely replenished and almost endless. i wonder if the narcissus bulb isn’t a better way to think of this. a long effortful growing season, and an equally long regenerative retreat. our household tends to live in seasons already. i might add my creative growing season, and my season of retreat back into my bulb, to our family calendar.

paperwhite bulb

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time to bone up

time to bone up

i just spent an hour trying to identify this tree. it stands somewhere on the stanford university campus and my daughter sent the image to me. it looks like an ash, and maybe like a mountain ash, but those last two leaves on the end of each frond are opposite, and it has red berries which don’t seem to work for an ash tree like we know here in the twin cities, yet it’s clearly not a mountain ash. i have spent so many years getting to know the species east of the mississippi river. now i have a reason to visit the west coast for a few years, and learn about its flora. i guess that means it’s time to bone up on the western north american species of plants and trees. but yikes it feels like a lot of work.

(unidentified) lamp lit tree on stanford campus,palo alto, california

  • Erin says:

    “Work smarter not harder.” Since your daughter knows where the tree is, perhaps your answer could here: https://trees.stanford.edu/records.htm

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    • Ha! I thought there might be a resource like that. Next time I’ll tell her to geo-tag it

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  • Cathy Halpern says:

    I live in California and have one of these trees in my front yard. I believe it is a Chinese Pistache (Pistacia chinensis) It has beautiful Fall foliage. I appreciate your photographs and blog very much.

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blue spruce in blue light

blue spruce in blue light

we have a set of six clerestory windows high above the single space that serves as our living room, dining room, and kitchen. the windows face south, and the light that shines through them moves in two perpendicular directions on two separate schedules. through the course of each day, the light travels eastward across our counters or our floors, as the sun makes its way toward the western horizon. and over the course of each year, between the summer solstice and the winter solstice, the light advances a little bit farther into the room each day, as the sun’s arc grows shallower in the southern sky. just a couple of days ago, i noticed the sun in my eyes as i sat at my computer, in the same location, and at the same time, as i have sat there for weeks. it was a little seasonal reminder that had been almost six months in the making.

blue spruce branch in winter sun

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