an original

i found this party streamer half way through my walk today. how sad do you think i was when i accidently broke the tip off that curly leaf on my way home? crushed. coincidentally, i attended my aunt Geri’s funeral yesterday. she was my mom’s younger sister, and best friend these last few years. i adored aunt geri. she had spunk. and grit. and determination. she had three daughters, and was a true feminist in the 1950’s…a whole generation before it would become a national movement. so this grass stem reminds me of her; fun, determined, beautiful. an original. we will miss her.

tall grass leaf in autumn

busy busy

the black walnuts are falling. and the squirrels are caching them as fast as they fall. i know this because i have a commission from the U.S. Botanical Garden to help them make a shadow box display about black walnuts for a show next year. so i have been out gathering black walnuts to save for the display. i feel like i am in a one-man race with the squirrels. we have a lot of squirrels. and they are perhaps the most resourceful critters i know. so, quite frankly, they are winning. i am looking for the walnuts still in their green husks. yesterday, i found this pile of chewed nuts. so the score right now is: squirrels 42, mary jo 3.

squirrel chewed black walnut shells

autumn genocide

every autumn our oaks drop thousands of acorns ad our maples drop thousands of samaras. this is happening as i type. then, every spring, the edges of our yard sprout hundreds of tiny saplings. and then, every fall, when we brush-cut the edges of our property, we lop their heads off. there is no more polite way to say it. it feels a little bit like genocide. i actually ache while we are doing it. but for the overall and longterm health of the ecosystem, it seems to be our best option. i really never expected gardening to be so existentially difficult.

baby maple tree

LBBs

have you heard of LBBs? little brown birds. there are so many little brown birds, that my mother-in-law, a bird lover, simply referred to them collectively as LBBs.  this little guy, a wood thrush, winters in south america and summers in canada. he was migrating south for the winter when he hit my kitchen window yesterday. he did not die, but was very stunned for several minutes. i snapped a quick photo and then carefully propped him up on the front stoop. he regained his composure after five minutes, and then was off.  godspeed little fella. it’s migration season. for the next month, over 300 species of birds will migrate through minnesota on their way south. some to florida and texas, but most to mexico or even farther. the mississippi fly-way is one of the great migratory pathways. typically birds use this route because no mountains or ridges of hills block the path over its entire extent. good sources of water, food, and cover exist over its entire length. about 40% of all north american migrating waterfowl and shorebirds use this route.

wood thrush (Catharus ustulatus)

bleu, blanc, rouge

the bushes to whom these three berries belong were all bunched up together on my morning walk, each about head-height and loaded with berries. most americans, when they see red, white, and blue together think of the american flag. but i always think of the tricolor blocks the french flag first–bleu, blanc, rouge–liberté, égalité, fraternité. perhaps it’s the relative simplicity of those thee blocks of color that make it my first association. the american flag is busy. and busy is less sticky than simple.

buckthorn berries, viburnum nudum berries, high-bush cranberries