what is it?

this is a black and white satellite image of rural farm land in our beloved corner of southern france. no, it’s not. but it certainly could be. it’s actually a photo of the frost on the glass railing that surrounds my deck. capturing snow, frost, and ice on a white background it nearly impossible, unless there is enough backlighting to make the ice or frost appear slightly darker than the white background. i have no idea what weather conditions created this fascinating plat map. thankfully, after 10 years of STILL, the lighting was finally right to capture it.

frost

swoosh

the repeating swoosh of these pine branches caught my attention: baby swoosh. mama swoosh. and papa swoosh. the algorithm that created this seems simple enough: reach outward as far as you can young branch, and when it comes time to start putting out needles, put all your energy into reaching up to the sun, and gravity will ensure you a strong and elegant curve. out-up-bend. out-up-bend.

austrian pine branches

nope, not weird.

and this is just a start…beach rocks, nests, eggs, pine cones, pressed leaves. i might even be able to do this with vine tendrils. which is not weird at all.

a collection of collections

forced

while this feels out of season, it is exactly what was happening on my kitchen counter all week–a gifted planter of forced  bulbs. while the colors are certainly day brighteners and the kitchen smells amazing, i still feel a bit of a dissonance when i look at them and then look outside at two feet of snow and sub-zero temps. i have a thing about harmony. i am drawn to harmonious environments. and tulips in february causes a tiny little glitch in my brain. so i didn’t feel much guilt about sacrificing these to the STILL cause today. you are very pretty flowers, but you are not supposed to be here in minnesota for another couple months.

blanketed by snow

a little time spent under a blanket of snow brought out some interesting colors on these leaves. i wonder if it would do the same for me? i could use a little color.

(unidentified) landscaping leaves in winter