after all this time

after all these years of doing STILL, one would think that i would work a few weeks ahead of when i post. it would give my days more flexibility. i’d spend less time chasing the light. i’d be able to post my images in a way that is more harmonious for scrolling, with like colors and subjects grouped together so they compliment each other rather than clash. one would be right to just assume i do that. because it would make so much sense. but i don’t. i still post the image i made that day, everyday, day after day. oh, i’ve tried to work ahead. and every once in a while, when i’m out of town for instance, i do work ahead by necessity. but if i do that at all regularly, all that happens is that i end up skipping days for the slightest of reasons, and in no time at all i am right back to my daily make-and-post deadline. STILL was always intended to be a simple daily creative practice. it may have morphed into something more than that. but i’m not at all mad that at its core, it is still a daily exercise in seeing, and making.

dried rose

a tropical nook in the north

we have a brilliant new store here in minneapolis called mother co. it sells large indoor house plants like 6 foot cactuses, 8 foot birds of paradise, and large potted monstera and rubber plants. i’m thrilled they are here and wanted to support this great new addition to our city. so this fall, knowing we were in for long, house-bound winter, i decided i wanted to create a little indoor greenhouse under the sky-lights, with a heated rubber floor pad, a grow light, a humidifier, and most importantly a reading chair. i populated it with plants from mother co–large tropical palms and ferns. my own mini-conservatory. now if you’ll excuse me, i just started a good book, and my rain forest is calling me.

dracaena marginata

resilience

this black cherry was a survivor. life threw it a some massive challenge that only it knows about. it absorbed the blow, changed course, and then kept going. altered but strong. life goals.

black cherry tree truck

woody leaf or leafy wood?

should i be surprised that this leaf looks so much like carved wood?  at what point does a plant transition from wood to foliage? is the massive base of a palm frond wood or leaf? alas, i suppose it is all leaf. leaves are shed. wood is not. but it wasn’t until i took this photo that i even contemplated such things. and this is why i love STILL.

bird of paradise leaf (Strelitzia reginae)

tolstoy and gull feathers

i thought of the first line of anna karenina as i was trying to sort out my thoughts about these feathers: “all happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” similarly i think all perfect specimens are alike. but each imperfect specimen is imperfect in its own way. and i am more drawn to the infinity of beautiful imperfection than the limits of perfect beauty.

gull feathers from lake superior