more interesting than beautiful

the maples are blossoming, and i wanted to share with you all the wonderful variety. i was trying to identify each of these but it was getting difficult, because for each tree there are male blossoms and female blossoms that can look quite different. also, tonight is the end of tax season celebratory date night…so i have run out of time to keep digging around for positive identification. so i’ll sign off for today, by encouraging you to look up and enjoy the fleeting tree blossom.

maple blossoms

perfectly imperfect

the forsythia are blooming, the maples are in flower, the daffodils have swollen flower buds…there is lot going on right now. and yet, it was this bedraggled over-wintered crane feather that caught my attention today. all those spring blooms are glorious and perfect. but this is imperfect. perfectly imperfect. y’all know what a sucker i am for these weathered feathers. this one in particular is stunning–looking like perfect beach hair to me, or the whispy sweaty curls on a small child who has been playing hard for several hours in the summer sun. so much personality in this one little feather. j’adore.

p.s. my husband is a tax preparer and today is the tax filing deadline. a very BIG day in our house. tomorrow i get my playmate back. happy tax day to all my american friends!

sandhill crane feather (over-wintered under the snow)

leaf-out

leaf out is thrilling no matter how it arrives–even with this year’s unprecedented heat wave followed by a snow storm. i love how nature may give a nod to the weather, but then continues to due it’s things regardless. the return of light, it seems, is a stronger imperative than which way the winds are blowing at any given moment. there is a metaphor here for us: decide what your moral compass is, set it on true north, and ignore all the rest.

lilac leaf buds bursting

two steps forward, one step back

our house sits in three acres of heavily wooded land. two days ago, we had one flower bloom in all those three acres…this lone crocus. i asked my husband if i could sacrifice it on the alter of STILL blog. in other words, how would he feel if i dug it up to photograph it. he was fine with it, as we have plans to plant lots of them this fall. because here in the north, crocuses are among the very first flowers to bloom–before forsythia, before daffodils. along with pussy willow, they are the true harbingers of spring. i waited one day to dig it up, and woke up this morning to a ½ inch inch of snow and this bedraggled bloom, who just the day before had been splayed out in all its full glory. such is spring–two steps forward, one step back. but always, in the end, moving forward.

crocus in the rain and snow

fur coats in april

lots of fuzzy catkins right now. thank goodness for their fur coats, as we are dropping from 86 degrees yesterday to 37 degrees today. yesterday felt like july, and today feels like november. these fur coats are a perfect adaptation to spring in minnesota.

poplar catkins in april