curious gifts

These feathers were gifted to me by one of the attendees at a talk I gave to the AAUW. When I give a talk and sign books immediately afterwords, the names and faces all become one big adrenaline fueled blur. I wish I could remember who gifted me these delicately beautiful feathers. She told me they were golden pheasant feathers, so I just assumed she knew a hunter (probably her spouse) and that golden pheasants were a popular game bird in some place like Kansas or Oklahoma, and that is how she came into possession of them. Later I looked up golden pheasant, and realize it is native to China and the male plumage is audacious. Now I am curious. How did she come to possess them? Why was she willing to share them with me? Did She travel to China? Or are there golden pheasants here in the US? Are these the female feathers or the male’s? There is a story about these feathers, I just know there is. If only they could speak.

golden pheasant feathers

past peak expression

I just got back from teaching two workshops up in Bayfield, Wisconsin at a gorgeous wellness retreat called Wild Rice Retreat. One of my mini-lessons is called “Seeing Past Peak Expression” where I try to convince my participants to look for subject that are before or after their peak expression. Most people want to photograph/draw/paint the rose/lily/dahlia in its full blooming glory. I get it. It’s hard not to. So, I tell them “do it”, but then go back outside and look for the not-so-perfect specimen. Try to find the most expressive one and photograph/draw/paint that. And then decide for yourself which you prefer.

spent yellow rose

still interesting

This is what too much travel looks like: spent flowers. Last fall someone at one of my workshops gifted my a seed-packet of allium bulbs. I dutifully stuck them in the ground and then promptly forgot about them until a few week ago when I had gorgeous purple pom-poms in my sideyard. I had no time to take their portrait until today. Past their glory but still interesting.

P.S. Gifting seeds is a lovely trend I am all for!

allium flowers doing to seed

my practice photo was a banger

This is the practice photos I made back in February to see if I was ready to resume STILL again after my fire pause. I loved it so much, that it gave me a false confidence about my readiness. Oh well, a little overconfidence never hurt anyone. A quick perusal of what I have posted since my return revealed that I had not shared this with you all yet. I have no idea why, I loved it then and I love it still!

dried clematis buds (unknown species, within the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae)

underrated wildflowers

Wild geranium is one of those wonderful native, shade tolerant, flowers that make me wonder why I don’t see it everywhere, like hosta. It’s hardy. It outcompetes the weeds. The lilac flowers couldn’t be more charming. Even the leaves are interesting. A quick look at the Minnesota Wildflowers website (that I have bookmarked, naturally) tells me that wild geranium is native to entire eastern United States from Canada down to Florida and west to the Rockies. So this is your call to action: plant more wild geranium if you live east of the Mississippi! You can thank me later.

wild geranium (Geranium maculatum)