winter solstice

i made a special composition to celebrate the shortest day of the year–the winter solstice. we will have a crescent moon over minneapolis during 15 hours of darkness today. and then. well, not much. still a lot of darkness and cold.

pinecone collection

holiday battalions

a holiday battalion in green and red, uniformed and ready to march into whatever the holidays mean in 2020. best of luck to them. if we have learned anything this year, it is that weirdness has no ceiling. it’s all just weird, up into the stratosphere.

that stem though

i picked this dock stem intending to use the abundant seeds to make another asemic writing piece. but it wasn’t until i got it home that i noticed that black stem. it’s stunning. i couldn’t take my eyes off of it. i have no idea if this is typical or unusual. i will find out soon, as i will surely be foraging for more dock this week, because everyone needs a stash of onyx colored stems. naturally.

curly dock (Rumex crispus)

delicate dustings

if light snow falls with no or little wind, we can get these wonderful delicate dustings. they usually only last an hour or two before a breeze sends the flakes on their original journey. these dustings are very photogenic while they last. but they are tricky as hell to capture on a white background. the snowflakes are really only clinging to each other, and not to the leaves at all. the tiniest hint of a disturbance, even a heavy breath, can send the whole lot cascading to the ground. to get the white background, i have to slip white paper or a white poster-board behind the leaves ever so carefully. i think i average 1 out of 4 attempts. but it is so worth it.

pin cherry branch with snow

scale

this photo is missing scale. these leaves are the size of my forearm. i found them intact on a recent walk. i love the color and texture. but the fact that i found such large fragile leaves still intact in december in minnesota is little disconcerting. they should rightly be buried under 12 inches of snow, or crumpled beyond recognition by alternating freeze/thaw cycles of snow and rain. in this way, i do believe STILL is very quietly documenting our warming planet.

(unidentified) fall leaves