one of the best things about being in a remote village in southern france in December is that the arrival of the christmas shopping season was recently heralded by the berries of the alexandrian laurel, which quietly turned red, in contrast to the green of their leaves. i’m feeling that shopping fever coming on. i think i’ll go for a walk, and, inflamed with irrational acquisitiveness, buy a baguette for lunch.

laurier d’alexandrie (danae racemosa)

autignac, france

this agave sits right next to the grill in our back courtyard here. follow the point from right to left and watch how it just keeps getting sharper and sharper until you reach the impossibly needle-like tip. steve stands next to the agave when he stands next to the grill. i can verify that the pointed tip will in fact draw blood.

agave leaf

autignac, france

this is what you wear when you want to stand next to a southern French rural highway and blend in. find your inner plane tree. feel the mediterranean sun on your leaves. be the tree. no one can see you. be. the. tree.

plane tree bark

autignac, france

a little celebration of originality and not giving a damn what they think.  you go, honey.

eucalyptus leaf

autignac, france

i have spent a couple of days experimenting with collage, trying to make patterms as minimal as possible, but still visually balanced and interesting. let me just say something. i call myself a minimalist, but i have realized over the last two days that i am a minimalist when it comes to lifestyle and interior design. artistic minimalism, on the other hand, currently feels about six leagues out of my grasp. should this go here? or here? or maybe just a hair farther over here? wait, this is totally boring. who would ever want to look at this? ok how about here? what if i tried this instead? or . . . i don’t know . . . this?

broom

autignac, france