the song remains the same

this is an old photo i took on a previous trip to the languedoc (where i am now). i took it out to remind me to make a new one for this trip–a composition of all the bits and pieces that most define this region. but as i studied this photo, i realized that i would pretty much recreate the exact same photo all over again. these are still the iconic bits for me. so, rather than reinvent the wheel, i (re)present to you the 15 iconic bits of my current home: 1) cypress cone, wine grapes, land snail, wild carrot, sea glass, wild blackberries, beach rock, teasel, wild thyme, olives, mediterranean sea shells, fig leaf, thistle, lunaria seed casing, wild fennel.

if you were to pick 15 bits of nature that define your home, what would you include?

15 bits and pieces of nature that define the languedoc for me

gift wrapped

we are not doing holiday gifts this year. a semester in southern France has been our family present to each other. but if i were doing gifts, i think a lot of people would be getting beach rocks from sète. slow food. slow travel. slow fashion. slow parenting. let’s call this slow gifting.

bound beach rocks from sète. france

palourdes migration

i can’t help but see the exterior shells of these palourdes clams as the barred wings of migrating sparrows. they need to do a little work on their formation. but it does look as if they have clear skies.

palourdes clamshells

spinning or swaying

if i look at this image long enough, the leaves start to move, i can’t quite tell if they are spinning along the thread from which they dangle, or if they are swaying in a gentle breeze. i’m going to go look some more. i’ll report back with any new discoveries.

pressed leaves from southern france

equilateral

what are the three internal angles of an equilateral triangle? well, 60 degrees of course, because they are also equiangular, with all three internal angles congruent to each other, and by definition adding up to 180 degrees. i know this is a hard sell, but math is really so much easier than art.

atlas cedar pinecones