another new-to-me!

I found these seedpods in the bag of foraged goodies I brought back from Florida last May. I think when I gathered them, they were freshly fallen and looked quite different, because honestly I don’t remember them being this spectacular. These are the curly seedpods of the earleaf acacia tree. I am quite mesmerized by them. I know some (most? LOL) of you live in warmer climates than I do. Do you know this tree? I’m smitten.

Earleaf Acacia (Acacia auriculiformis)

ghosts of echinacea past

I shot these roadside echinacea in July. Then I left them on my photo bench for several days. The dried with their heads hanging over the edge of the bench–which made their petals flop to one side and makes them look they are being blown by the wind even though they are not. I showed them to my son Joe, and he said “they look like ghosts,” I think so too.

dried echinacea flowers

On my way!

I am finally on my way to Philadelphia to attend the Longwood Gardens conference I have been prepping for for several weeks. I had to generate a lot of new work for this conference: three new classes, and a keynote address. It was a big deadline that hung over me for all of August. And as any good creative, I did work avoidance like a champion. Like an Olympic athlete actually. I was making STILL photos as if my life depended on it. While I was making STILLs, I was not, of course, getting a keynote address written. As per usual, the keynote eventually got written, and I am now able to queue up for you all six days of brand new work so we don’t have to disrupt your morning routines just because I am traveling. Enjoy!

A variety of pressed leaves from Floria and Minnesota

pressed into service

I was moving these smoke bush leaves from the book they got pressed in to a folder to bring to Longwood. First I took them out of the book, and piled them willy nilly on the kitchen counter. When I looked at my absent minded piles, it stated to look like a forest. So I transferred them first to my black background, snapped a few shots, and then on to my folder for transport to Longwood where they will be pressed into service as compositional teaching materials.

pressed smoke bush leaves in early autumn (cotinus)

weightless

My son, Joseph, found this tiny delicate nest on the ground at a friend’s cabin in northern Minnesota. It is made primarily with pine needles. It feels weightless in my hand. I wonder if it was blown to the ground before it was completed–it seems too insubstantial to safely hold eggs. I’ve been trying to identify the birds that build primarily with pine needles. Blue birds and pine warblers are the two species who’s name keeps showing up. Blue birds build in tree cavities. So, without 100% conviction, I am thinking this is a pine warbler nest.

pine warbler(?) nest (Setophaga pinus)