eye of the beholder

every time i catch sight of these shapes, i see something new. are they silhouettes of broody hens? are they fat andouille sausages? are they zuni cave paintings? are they a schematic of the human intestinal system? are they distended flower buds? are they late-season seed pods? are they sea slugs? i don’t know? any other ideas?

sweet potato 

tomato tarte

this is approximately what dinner will look like tonight. a tarte aux tomates cerises (cherry tomato tarte). reduce, reuse, recycle. tonight we will do all three.

tomatoes

move over irving penn

dear mr. penn. with this zucchini composition, i hereby submit my application for a place at your table. you will of course remain at the head.

zucchini

p.s. happy autumnal equinox all! here on the 45th parallel, it means exactly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness–7 AM to 7 PM.

a final goodbye

my mom gave this orchid to my husband after his mother’s death, and said, “think of your mom when you look at this.” a message from one aging mother about another who was not always kind to her. the older we get, i feel, the less time we have for pettiness. i hope to remind my son- or daughter-in-law someday to hold a place in their hearts for their own parents, because all parents, with so few exceptions, do their best.

orchid

uncommonly common

while poking around on the surpisingly informative  ‘wildflowers of minnesota” website today trying to identify these stems, i came to learn that there no less than 18 varieties of goldenrod in minnesota. i had no idea there was so much variation. these well-behaved and inviting leaves belong to the varietal called stiff goldenrod. other varietals include: grass-leaved, canada, hairy, velvety, ridell’s, showy, great plains, zigzag, early, gray, bog, tall, giant, missouri, upland white, cliff, and elm-leaved. geesh. i learn something new every day with STILL.

stiff goldenrod