1 BR apt. avail. June 1, 2014

cozy. rustic. needs some tlc. wooded setting. great views. quiet. family preferred. no pets. no smoking. reasonable rent. 1 year lease.

vireo(?) nest

sucker lake, saint paul, minnesota

  • margie says:

    did the previous owner tweet about it

    reply

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chlorophyll color palette

60’s psychedelic hallucination? 70’s home decor? green smoothie straws?

sedge, rush, reed, or true grass? i can’t tell.

vadnais lake, saint paul, minnesota

  • ana says:

    Chloroform or chlorophyll?

    reply
    • oh dear! well, that will teach me not to do my posts so late at night. Yikes. Thanks for catching that :-)

      reply
  • margie says:

    definitely not sedge

    reply
  • Jenn says:

    I learned this mnemonic in plant ID class: “Sedges have edges and rushes are round.”

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fallen

i feel i have not earned any authority on this subject. there is too much gulf between my life as it has played out and the lives we in the US are encouraged to remember over these next few days. but it is memorial day weekend. and we each find our own way to remember the fallen. these feathers are one way, as insufficient as all the rest.

mallard feathers

sucker lake trail, saint paul, minnesota

  • Anne Field says:

    You have an eye for beauty the rest of us overlook. Your blog has really captivated me. I loved this post and I loved the beaver. Best to you and thanks for sharing your view of the natural world.

    reply
    • Wow, thank you Anne. It’s such a quirky little angle on the world that I am always tickled when someone else appears to share it.

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a happy birthday and a happy marriage

last october, my husband and i passed what appeared to be a roadkill porcupine on the shoulder of a utah highway. i have never let him hear the end of the fact that we drove past it, and did not turn around at the next exit in order to take a still blog photo of all of those perfectly photogenic quills. yesterday morning, on my 50th birthday, when he saw a roadkill beaver with a perfectly photogenic tail, he elected not to make the same mistake twice. thanks to him and thanks to this beaver for his beautiful tail, and his endearingly eloquent rear foot, which must have enjoyed swimming so much.

roadkill beaver tail and hind leg

highway 61 in white bear lake, saint paul, minnesota

  • margie says:

    true love

    reply
  • Barb says:

    Wonderful and funny! I adore your style and am trying my hand at it!

    reply
  • Ellen says:

    Well, not everyone would be happy with this for her 50th birthday!

    reply
  • Sheryl says:

    That’s a keeper.

    reply

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hiding in plain sight

you would think a big 16 inch spire of asparagus standing alongside a walking trail would be impossible to miss, but with everything going vertical this time of year, we almost walked past several of these, and certainly did walk by others that are still standing, obvious and delicious, along this morning’s route. on the other hand our searching gazes did turn any number of other stalks–bracken fern stems, quack grass, buckthorn saplings, willow whips, and one slender green wooden dowel staking out a property boundary–into asparagus.

wild asparagus

sucker lake trail, saint paul, minnesota

p.s. today is my 50th birthday :-)

  • margie says:

    Anazing. Happiest of birthday to you. I hope your family treats you to a most amazing day. hugs

    reply
    • Thanks as always for being so generous and so supportive, and just for being Margie. Your warmth and encouragement make me think of you as a friend even though we have never met in person. If Still Blog had only brought me in contact with you and your sweet and thoughtful daily check-in, I would have counted it a success.

      reply
  • Lolli Pooler says:

    Happy birthday Mary Jo …have an amazing day!

    reply
  • Sara says:

    I’m always excited to see what you will come up with next on STILLblog. You have a wonderful eye for the natural world. Thanks for sharing it. Here’s wishing you a wonderful birthday!

    reply
  • Sheryl C says:

    A very Happy Birthday to you! Thank you for your gift to me (and others)- appreciation for the beauty of nature on a tiny, rather than grand, scale.

    reply
    • Thank you, Sheryl. I’m so grateful to have people like you to share with.

      reply
  • Margaret says:

    wishing you the happiness that you give to us everyday. thank you.

    reply
    • Thank you, Margaret. The kindness of my Still Blog birthday well wishers has overwhelmed me.

      reply
  • Carol Sommers says:

    Have the happiest day ever ! I would say do something very special, but you do that every day with your gifts to those of us who follow you.

    reply
    • Thanks, Carol. It’s so funny because I realized I wasn’t looking forward to my birthday, not because of turning 50 and getting one year older, but because all the hoo-haa of a birthday was going to distract me from such a pleasant and rewarding daily routine. I suppose that makes me sound awfully spoiled, but I feel that way these days.

      reply
  • Manisha says:

    What a nice treat. Happy birthday to you!

    reply
  • Marty says:

    Happy Birthday Mary Jo. I wish I could give you a gift as wonderful as you give me every morning. You have a wonderfully trained eye. Thank you for your gift to us!

    reply
    • I don’t know, Marty. Your comment was an awfully nice gift!

      reply
  • Celia says:

    A very happy birthday to you! Thanks for the many gifts you give the rest of us each morning.

    reply
  • Kathleen says:

    Happy birthday! My brother-in-law turned 50 today too. (May 22nd) I am older than him so can tell you from experience that the fifties are good.

    reply

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