in a week of STILL blog appearances on some pages (star tribune), and in some blogs (french by design, SfGirlByBay, wit & delight), that i have only previously admired from afar, i have to say, i received some attention from a couple of unexpected quarters that surprised and moved me as much as all the rest. this afternoon, my 80-something neighbor stopped by, after reading my feature in the minneapolis star tribune, and he was concerned that i might be having trouble finding still blog subjects this late in the winter. so he dropped off a handful of black walnut shells, and worn oak fragments, to supplement my diminishing late-winter gatherings. then, about an hour later, gayle and denise, who clean our house every two weeks, arrived with a surprise in a ziploc bag. gayle’s ancient and beloved horse had lost a molar in the midst of a tooth cleaning, and her first thought, to my utter delight, was that maybe mary jo would be interested in seeing this tooth, with its black cavity and its eroded roots. women bond over lots of superfluous things. shopping. cell phones. shoes. margaritas. but i’d trade all that for more women who will bond with me over the shed molar of their favorite horse.

horse tooth beside and joseph’s recently lost twelve-year-old molar

i burned off some nervous energy today by tracing my 12 year old son on my kitchen floor, and then filling him in with the nature he and i both love. i think he’s rather handsome.

thanks so much to kate arends at Wit & Delight for the beautiful and generous feature today. please go visit her and shower her with love.

silhouette of joseph (age 12) filled with found nature

97% from ninnesota, 1% mediterranean france, 1% california, 1% florida

if these leaves are my daily STILL blog images, then what is missing from this image are the roots that feed them. they include a rewarding but unromantic daily routine. a quiet, drama-free domestic life. some early life decisions that mean we can’t forget about money, but don’t have to worry about it constantly. a third-born tomboy childhood that taught me to believe in myself first and others’ opinions second. a life partner willing to join me in both dreaming big, and attending to the details. a certain luck of the draw when it came to illness-free, and issue-free kids. an affection for habit and small daily accomplishments. that’s my soil. STILL blog is the fruit.

red milkweed

saint paul, minnesota

i know i have a target and west elm launch to nurture and feed this week. oh, and hopefully for much longer than that. but someday i am going to come out with my botanical font, and you are all going to freaking love it.

dead scots pine limb with immature cones

saint paul minnesota

unintentionally, this circle appears to be full of sheaves of wheat and corn tassels. for some reason it reminds me of a fall harvest still life. or maybe that’s just because i have a new word on my mind. sometime around the new year i heard gretchen rubin recommend that instead of a new year’s resolution, we should all just pick one word that would be our symbolic word throughout the next year. the word i picked was “reap.” we spent so much of 2015 sowing seeds, planting possibilities, and deferring gratification, that i felt 2016 was the time to begin doing some reaping. not grim reaping. joyful reaping. i’m not going to wear a hood and cape and carry a scythe. i plan to wear an artist’s smock, and carry a fistful of sharpies.

bits and pieces: linden calyces, white pine needles, hydrangea blossoms, cedar tips, juniper berries, smac berries, daylily seed pods, dried leaves

saint paul, minnesota