keep it simple

i have to remind myself, over and over, to keep things simple. it’s hard not to get swayed by other people’s opinions. i know that images with lots of elements in an orderly composition get the most likes online. but, if i am true to myself, i prefer the difficult beauty of simplicity.

rock, driftwood, and land snail, and moth

burdock or cocklebur?

do you know your burs? does it really matter? they are all equally hard to get out of your wool socks and your dog’s fur. nevertheless, i still like knowing the names of things. and these here are cockleburs–hard spikey burs in the shape of a tiny football about the size of an almond. i spent our last month in autignac stepping on them, after our adopted stray cat batted them into random positions on the tile floor.

cockleburs in winter

back stateside

i carried my beloved beach rocks home. i left behind two pairs of shoes that still had life in them and had a bit of trouble lifting this up onto the scale at the airport check-in, and yes, completely worth it.

striped beach rocks from Roquebrune-Cap-Martin

bird of paradise

we have, or should i say had, several of these purple heart spiderwort plants on our terrace. they were large and unruly, and surprisingly prolific and hardy plants. which is fortunate for them, because every time the strong northern winds blew, they would rain down bits themselves like fall leaves. i love how the deep purple color looks against the dusty olive greens of so many of the mediterranean plants. yet one more example of  “what grows together goes together.”  enjoy this little formation of migrating bird-flowers.

purple heart spiderwort plant tips with blossoms

what do you see

any of you remember that agave leaf, unopened and straight, that i posted six weeks ago? well, this is what it looked like right before we left. what do you see a hooded monk? a vagina? an alien life form? i see a cobra about to strike. my husband, well . . . boys.

giant blue agave leaf unfurling

autignac, france