my old neighbors

when we bought our house 14 years ago, seeing red foxes was a daily occurrence. matter of fact, sometime during our first spring, a mama fox had two kits under our screen porch. we watched, a little bit in horror, as she hunted grey squirrels and carried them home for her charges to gnaw on. we watched the kits grow, and do all that playful tumbling and chasing, you remember from mutual of omaha shows. oh man, remember those?  after a few years, the foxes started to get mange, and then slowly disappeared. we were told it was all part of a natural 7 year cycle, and that they would return. but alas, they have not. instead, coyotes have moved in.  i am not sure what to make of this little tale. i ran across this old photo taken in my backyard. i miss my old neighbors. so elegant and beautiful. and always with a hint of mystery.

red foxes

a solo debut

a while back, i used this modest little stem in a composition with other dried flowers. but when i enlarged the image on my imac, this little guy stole the show. so i decided he deserved a starring role. welcome to the big time, little friend.

dried grape hyacinth

details

my scanner is still hooked up to my computer. today another victim got sucked into its voracious maw, and this is what was digested and expelled.

pressed autumn lady fern

black flames

a sheaf of black stems feeding a conflagration of black and gold fire. milkweed you say? is that all you can come up with? milkweed?

milkweed in winter

pull into focus

the light is shifting. the birds are a more active. a season shift has ever so subtly begun. my sense are straining to bring it into focus.

spruce needles