i can’t stop looking at the white tail deer vertebrae we found last weekend.  they manage to look both functional and whimsical.  evolutionary art.

white tail deer vertebra

saint paul,  minnesota

i took this photo more than a week ago. the warblers were migrating through, and i assume he hit the glass.  but my family wouldn’t let me post it.  “no more dead birds” they cried.  so i compromised, and waited a week, and here, with my apologies, is another dead bird. there is something about them, their sad and peaceful stillness, that i find both wrenching and beautiful.

tennessee warbler

saint paul, minnesota

i love that these dramatic flowers do their elegant thing in the shade of the understory, beneath a parasol of their own leaves.  modesty is in short supply lately, and all the more appreciated for that.

jack-in-the-pulpit

from my yard, saint paul, minnesota

not in all my forty nine years, in this northern region where conifers rule, have i taken the time to notice the spring blooms of one of our beloved native residents.  this is the immature male cone of the red pine.  it is often referred to as a “flower” but it is not technically a flower.  it is a strobilus or inflorescence.  to me, it looks a lot like a torch, and the red pine beside the kids’ school was all lit up with them this week.

pollen cone of the red pine

saint paul, minnesota

i found this scattering of bones next to a local athletic field during a recent soccer practice. in the car, there were some comments about being the family that brings the deer bones home. the bones are mostly vertebrae and ribs, with one hip joint. they had been picked clean and were beginning to bleach in the sun. i have no idea where the rest of the animal ended up. unable to reconstruct, i did my best to rearrange respectfully.

assorted deer bones

chippewa middle school, saint paul, minnesota