fleur-de-lis

i always thought the fleur de lis was a sort of stylized lily or iris. even wiki defines it as a stylized lily. turns out, it’s an entirely realistic depiction of a dried lily blossom. this very dried lily blossom as a matter of fact. i’m just not sure how they got their hands on this back in 13th century france.

dried lily flower

saint paul, minnesota

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  • Pat Klein says:

    This is gorgeous…. What an eye you have!

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  • Yes! Gorgeous in form, texture, and color. What kind of lily is this?

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  • michele says:

    One of my favorite shots so far !!!

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coquilles saint jacques

this could be a prime example of how different organisms evolve into similar shapes. the scalloped edges of this bracket fungus look just like the edges of the seashell that gave us the term “scalloped.” there must be something similar about the growth pattern of bracket fungus and scallop shells that generates, in both cases, just a little bit of extra material at the outer edge, which is required to fold itself into a pretty kind of ruffle. i could have done some more research on this topic tonight, but, with our trip to france just three weeks away, i couldn’t get past the thought of scallops, known in france as coquilles st jacques, poached in white wine and served in their shells with a cream sauce. in other words, bracket fungus be damned. pass the white wine.

bracket fungi

saint paul, minnesota

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hidden depths

this was a perfectly ordinary grayish-tan duck wing feather sitting on my desk until i got up to pour myself a cup of tea, and from an angle about halfway between sitting and standing, in the light from the glass patio door, it suddenly turned into a multifaceted steel gray, caramel brown, ivory white, iridescent greenish-black gemstone of a wingfeather. by the time i was standing up straight, it was a perfectly ordinary grayish-tan duck wing feather again. it was sort of like seeing your nerdy, greasy haired high school classmate get up on stage for the talent show, and stare through his bangs at the keyboard while he plays a note-perfect rendition of scarlatti’s sonata in d major, before slumping back into his folding chair in the audience. after i got my tea and returned to my desk, i made this feather play scarlatti one more time for all of you.

mallard wing feather

turtle lake, saint paul, minnesota

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  • Breathtakingly stunning – like a sudden rainbow in the sprinklers

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between the coffee shop and home

today i wondered how much color i could find growing along the one-mile stretch between the coffee shop and home. the answer was very nearly ROY.G.BIV (i don’t really see any blue in there). what i love about this photo is that if you asked anyone what the colors were along that stretch of private road, county road, city road, and private driveway, the answer would have been “green.” all it took was a little time and a little attention to call forth this much color from a familiar and overwhelmingly green mid-summer landscape.

late july flowers: a mix of wild flowers, weeds, and garden flowers

shoreview, minnesota

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jacks

don’t these eucalyptus seed pod patterns look like jacks? remember playing jacks when you were a kid? all we need is a rubber ball and a kitchen table. i’m not competitive at all. truly. but i’ll kick your ass at jacks. not in a competitive way. just in a completely humiliating-to-you way that has nothing to do with my being competitive. at all.

eucalyptus seed pods

big sur, california

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  • Susan says:

    Wow. These are fascinating! I loved the way they surprised me when I scrolled up to see what you had for us today.

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  • Emperor Qin’s Terra Cotta Warriors

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  • Ellen says:

    A driveway and a rubber ball.

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