the kandy-colored tangerine-flake streamline baby

there have been times recently when, although i’ve never felt the remotest hippie urge turn on, tune in, or drop out, i have understood the 1960s spirit that said, hey, what if we all just stopped trying so hard, maybe stopped bombing everything, and started loving each other? i didn’t intend for this photo to go in this direction, but i guess this is my little citrus-colored ode to the flower child in me, and an announcement that if anybody is thinking about a summer of love anytime soon, i’m in.

circle of citrus slices

smellovision

this photo only really reaches its full potential if you open a bag of star anise next to your computer and breathe in regularly. that’s how my living room smelled all day, while this collection of little asterisks sat there looking pretty, and inciting daydreams of hot chai.

star anise (Illicium verum)

we should do this well

one of our dearest friends sells ice in minnesota. there is the old joke about selling ice to eskimos. basically that’s what he does. except that his ice is beautiful and clear, and has begun to redefine what it means to put ice in your glass when you order a cocktail in minneapolis and saint paul. selling beautiful ice to minnesotans is a way of saying that you care about where you are from and what can be done best in this particular place on earth. it’s something we minnesotans should do well. it’s just ice. but it’s more than ice.

minnesota ice

dna

my extended family is getting genetically tested this winter, and we plan to compare the results this easter. i’m guessing i will be a lot of romanian and a lot of scandinavian with maybe a little eastern european or a little austro-german. but there’s a legitimate chance i could be a little bit gypsy. and then i think, what if i ended up being jewish enough to go move to israel? how great would that be? or what if i had royal blood? or relatives on the algarve coast of portugal? then again, what if i were a little bit white cedar? or ostrich fern? or hepatica leaf? or water lily? i could be really ok with a little water lily in my blood.

pressed leaves leaf

spinning jennys

i can’t decide if what i really want is to replay last autumn, or fast forward to this spring. but i do know that i currently am not interested in pausing in the middle of the minnesota winter.

maple samara seeds