i was interviewed recently by a young french woman doing her work on a thesis called Synapse, which focuses on climate in a way intended to inspire artists, artisans and designers. she asked me about a dozen remarkably thoughtful questions. you can read the whole interview here. one of the questions she asked was whether i was witnessing climate change firsthand since beginning STILL blog. i told her the unfortunate truth, which is that i feel i am witnessing, through the dailiness of STILL blog, the earlier springs and later winters of a global and epochal phenomenon.

staghorn sumac leaves in october

saint paul, minnesota

those who grow up north of the 45th parallel have a special place in their hearts for birch trees. their white trunks stand out so sharply against a curtain of evergreens, or a deep blue lake, or a steel gray sky.

paper birch tree trunks

saint paul, minnesota

i originally photographed this triangle with the point facing up, and i realized that i don’t do many triangle shapes, but i do lots and lots of circles. the triangle shape felt aggressive and slightly in-your-face in its energy. i even talked to my husband about it tonight on the couch. then, just before i posted the photo, i read a little bit about the symbology of triangles, and was reminded (anyone who has read the da vinci code will understand) that the triangle represents the blade, which is the shape of a rudimentary phallus and has a male energy, whereas the upside down triangle represents the chalice, which represents the womb, and has a female energy. don’t ask me why this feels true even on an aesthetic, emotional, and almost quantum energy level. but it does.

bits and pieces from my early october desk

saint paul, minnesota

the greens are battling the yellows this fall, and it currently looks like anyone’s game, although, as always, the fix is in.

mountain ash frond in october

saint paul, minnesota

i have tried to minimize buying clothes and home accessories when i travel, because when i get back home, the colors never look right. we minnesotans generally head toward warmer climates when we travel, and warm climates tend to feature vibrant colors that don’t get washed out in bright sunlight. but back in minnesota, those tropical/citrusy/saturated colors look like garish neon signs against our cool-toned northern elements. take these zinnias that i picked today. they suddenly look so out of place in a minnesota blog, and now it makes sense, because i just read in wiki that they are native to the southwest united states and mexico. of course they are. i really didn’t need wiki to tell me that.

ocotber zinnias

minneapolis, minnesota