cape hatteras sunken treasure

my two boys took a road trip to the outer banks of north carolina last week to go fishing out of hatteras. the shoals off of cape hatteras are called the “graveyard of the atlantic,” because that’s where the labrador current meets the gulf stream. i don’t know how many wrecks there are, but somewhere near 5,000. in any case, steve brought me back a little sunken treasure. ok, it was sunken in about 4 inches of water, along a beach where people had parked their trucks and were throwing footballs, while country music played from portable stereos. but treasure nonetheless. and technically sunken.

beach shell from the outer banks, hatteras, north carolina

ghosts of summers past

these pressed botanicals were forgotten in an old journal until today. they are all warm weather species, so we must have been in southern france. it was polite of them to emerge perfectly color coordinated.

circle and lines

i saw this very image floating on the surface of the lake. i picked up the pieces and tried to recreate it on my white background…i would have had it, if the lily pads hadn’t started to curl.

lily pads and reeds

come and gone

my cattail pollen has already come and gone. as warned, i discovered, too late, that the season was only a few days long.

cattails in bloom (typha)

monastery of the prairie

purple prairie clovers are native and common members of our great plains and prairie ecosystems. i think they look like tonsured monks who love punk rock.

purple prairie clover (Dalea purpurea)