this fair damsel looks as if she went down fighting, taking on all comers. like a ballerina in a street fight. i was never a ballerina, but one of my proudest childhood moments was when my younger brother was getting bullied by bruce magnuson at the bus stop, and my parents told me my job was to protect my baby brother. so i coldcocked burly bruce magnuson with a straight right, and when he got up out of the snow, he never bothered my brother again. we solved things differently back then.

damselfly

saint paul, minnesota

our chickens, who already spend most days bossing us around, have now started eating their own eggs. so at this point, we are setting aside about a thousand square feet of  garage and side yard, and buying bags of extra expensive organic feed, for the pleasure of keeping five ungrateful and now unproductive feathered pets. they are so cute. we just love them.

eggshells from our five golden buff hens

saint paul, minnesota

when i first looked at this photo i thought immediately of a windstorm blowing an impossible number of little parasols off of a funny pink dandelion. whimsical and lighthearted. but then i saw it more the way i’ve been feeling lately, and suddenly it was an impossible number of distractions, texts, calendar reminders, emails, and micro obligations blowing, not away from, but at the poor dandelion, who is just trying to stand still and think. ehh. it’ll blow over.

nodding wild onion blossoms

saint paul, minnesota

this weeping willow just like hangs out at the beach all day? and like it’s sooo chill. like it’s like nothing ever even bothers it. its hair just hangs  like straight down and sometimes it blows in the wind, and the tree doesn’t ever say anything it  just like . . . stands there . . . you know? looking out at the lake. it’s probably the coolest kid i know.

weeping willow in high summer

turtle lake, saint paul, minnesota