classic combos

i have a special place in my heart for rhubarb. it is one of the first harvested plants here in the north. matter of fact, it is almost always harvested the week of my birthday (this week). so, as a kid, my mom always made me my favorite pie for my birthday–strawberry rhubarb, at my request, instead of cake. i just couldn’t get enough of the sweet-sour combo. and i still can’t. to this day, offer me strawberry rhubarb anything, and i’m in.

p.s. while in nyc for the james beard awards three weeks ago, i learned about something called “forced rhubarb” that caught my attention. i haven’t had time to follow up. oh, but i will…

rhubarb in may

bursting

i love how graphically this photo shows the nearly bursting quality of a plant about to bloom. there is so much quiet drama in the swelling buds and blossoms of spring and summer, aching with a fullness and tension that can’t last–like late-term pregnancy, like adolescence, like young love. something has to give, but it hasn’t quite yet, and meanwhile, there is this delicious state of youthful beauty, and anticipation, and nearly completed promise

allium flowers about to burst

yo! oy.

i am in love with the OY/YO sculpture by deborah kass in brooklyn, new york. in just two letters it seems to speak to everything that nyc is about–even more eloquently than I♡NY. these dandelions are a STILL blog homage to kass’s brilliantly simple work. If you haven’t seen the sculpture or heard of it, this article is a good place to start.

may dandelions

heading to o’keeffe country

when you see this, i will most likely be on a plane to santa fe, new mexico for a four-day girls’ weekend with my college friends from uw madison in the 1980s. i have plans to visit georgia o’keeffe’s studio at ghost ranch Abiquiú. in preparation for the trip, i started reading her lettters. i’m completely hooked and stealing time from other activities to read them. i recommend them for anyone interested in the creative process. one of the interesting tidbits i have learned is that she insisted her flower paintings were never meant to have sexual overtones. she insisted that she simply observed closely and painted what she saw. she told several critics that if they saw sexual innuendo, they were projecting themselves onto her work because she was simply painting flowers. i believe her. do you?

(innocent) white orchid

excess

spring crabapple blossoms are too much. they are too colorful. there are too many of them. they are the definition of excess. but they only show up in may. so over an entire year. they are exactly in balance. ok crabapples. give us everything you’ve got.

crabapple blossoms