finding color in winter

the transition from gray to wine red on these branch tips is so subtle. i love the quietude of winter.

wild apple branches in winter

the heaviness of light snow

i woke up to a forecast that said “light snow all day.”  for many days now, i have woken up to the light obligations of caring for an aging mother. no one day has felt overwhelming, but they have accumulated, like light snow all day on a head of pampas grass.

snow-covered pampas-like grass 

oh, my poor house plants

i gave my monstera plant the STILL treatment today. monstera is one of the most beguiling leaves i know. as a result, it has been photographed to death. so, in an attempt to take a new angle on this beloved leaf, i gave it a little trim.  i hope i gave you a  small surprise this morning–seeing familiar subjects with new eyes is on of my goals with STILL.

monstera leaves

nothing is safe

when the sun starts setting, and the day has been consumed with caretaking, and a STILL photo has not yet been made, the house plants are start to quiver. art is a hungry beast. nothing is safe.

anthurium

the language of trees

well, we now know that trees are social creatures that communicate with each other in cooperative ways.  according to Suzanne Simard, author of Finding the Mother Tree, trees are linked to neighboring trees by an underground network of fungi that resembles the neural networks in the brain, she explains. in one study, Simard watched as a Douglas fir that had been injured by insects appeared to send chemical warning signals to a ponderosa pine growing nearby. the pine tree then produced defense enzymes to protect against the insect. “this was a breakthrough,” Simard says. the trees were sharing “information that actually is important to the health of the whole forest.” in addition to warning each other of danger, Simard says that trees have been known to share nutrients at critical times to keep each other healthy. she says the trees in a forest are often linked to each other via an older tree she calls a “mother” or “hub” tree.

this asemic writing is how i image the trees might be speaking to each other…one tiny pulse of information at a time.