would i have eaten the marshmallows?

i was at an awards banquet with my husband last year, making small talk with our tablemates, when the pleasantly talkative journalist sitting next me confessed somewhat out of the blue “i ate the marshmallows.” the only segue had been that i had attended stanford. it turned out she had been part of the preschool class that had been subjected to the now famous Stanford marshmallow study, which tested children’s ability to defer gratification by asking them if they would rather eat one marshmallow right away, or wait for a promised two marshmallows in the near future. all kinds of future success was predicted for those children willing to wait for the two marshmallows in the future. clearly, her childhood performance was still haunting this outwardly perfectly successful adult. as the question sometimes haunts me. would i have eaten the marshmallows??

this little simple weaving of red-pine needles reminded me once again of that experiment, and made me doubt whether i would have had the strength of character to resist the marshmallow sitting in front of me. because the image above is not even close to what i had imagined making for STILL blog with those needles.  i had envisioned a collections of table-top weavings all using a different weaving technique.  then i would trim them, and assemble a little quilt pattern.  nice, eh?  well, i could barely got through the simple weaving above. the needles were unruly and very badly behaved. it was a chore. it was going to take forever to make six of these buggers. so i ate the damn marshmallows. then photographed what i had.

simple weaving of red-pine needles

saint paul, minnesota

 

  • margie says:

    i don’t even like marshmallow so I guess i would have scewed the data. This photo reminds me of a bookhou print .

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  • Sara says:

    I think the weaving is lovely. Sometimes eating the damn marshmallows is the only way to go because sometimes, there aren’t really two marshmallows waiting as a reward.

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  • Manisha says:

    I was just thinking about the marshmallow because I have a little preschooler. I like what Sara has to say about it. And I like your weaving. The thing I always say to my preschooler is the important thing is to try. You tried with the weaving and it is lovely, even if it’s not what you had planned out.

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  • As a clinical psychology doctoral student, as a well someone who studied studio art as an undergrad, I LOVE THIS POST in every way! I probably would’ve eaten the marshmallows.

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  • Ellen says:

    Great post.

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  • Jacqueline says:

    yep – would have eaten the marshmallow of the present rather than wait for the marshmallows of the future. your present simple weaving is very satisfying. :)

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  • LW says:

    Sometimes more is not better. Who determines two is better than one? Your pines are positively perfect!

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on a mission

well, pretty much the whole north american continent is having a bad winter. here in the american upper midwest, the temperatures have been so consistently cold that we’ve had almost no snow melt all winter! what that means is that right now the ground is buried in four feet of snow. for STILL blog that means slim pickings. very slim. and i have to admit i have been feeling a little blue about that. so today, i decided i would quit pouting. i would do my usual morning routine, but i would stop any time i saw anything with any color. i had to step in to five thigh-deep snow banks to get my booty, and i came home with wet socks and pants, but it was worth it–just look how colorful march can be!

march matrix: chicken feather, cedar berries, dead pine needles, green pine needles, mustard seed, maple seeds, twigs with buds, frozen crab apples, magnolia buds, birch bark, ash tree seeds, brown leaves

saint paul, minnesota

 

  • margie says:

    like a wild chicken hunt xx

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  • Dawn says:

    Just had to say landing on your blog by way of Roz, link you have inspired me to be more productive in creating. I love your presentations, perhaps some of my dog walk collections will make it out of my pocket, off my desk or window sill now. Thank you.

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    • Hi Dawn,
      I totally understand. I had all sorts of collections–feathers, rocks, shells–for years before i found this beautiful outlet for them. Now I have even more collections–seed pods,eggs, and even wasp nests! Consider yourself warned!
      And welcome to STILL blog!
      Mary Jo

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  • amy funk says:

    beautiful! made me smile

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  • Traci says:

    GOOD IDEA. I love this grid of wonderful winter color. Winter has to be almost over, right?

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  • LW says:

    Thank you for making such effort! Old man winter just wants to hang on. Let’s give him the cold shoulder and see how he likes it. This is a Beautiful display. I am grateful for your fruits and I know your spirits are lifted just from getting out. That makes me happy too!

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    • Yes, you are so right, I feel so much better when I get out! I love your cold-shoulder suggestion. I think I will give it a try.I’ll let you know how it works :-)
      Warmly,
      Mary Jo

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  • Ellen says:

    Impressive. Conditions the same in southern Ontario.

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  • Tracy Klinesteker says:

    I’m curious why so many people are complaining about winter. Look at the color you found even on what you say is a snowy landscape! All seasons have their time and winter deserves as much time as it needs. Give it a few months, and everyone will be complaining about the heat and humidity! I love the snow (in MI, it’s still about 2½ feet deep here) and I love the spring awakening, and I love the summer sun, and the autumn leaves. I go out and marvel at the snow; so different than the summer heat, but just as beautiful.

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    • Hi Tracy, you know I agree with you 100%. But we Minnesotans are an odd bunch–as an example, on the same day in early May, at about 3 PM in the afternoon, we will all, collectively, switch from complaining about the cold, to complaining about the heat. And exactly six months later, in November, we will switch back to complaining about the cold. It’s what we do. We are good at. You could even call it a talent. :-)
      By the way, I agree with you about winter. If you can get away from the city grit, it is an often breathtakingly gorgeous season.
      Mary Jo

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      • Tracy Klinesteker says:

        I understand completely Mary Jo. I know winter can be brutal in MN and I’m sure after a while…it can be quite tedious. And, I know I’m in a position to enjoy winter, as I’m retired and comfortable. I don’t have to drive in it and I have enough resources right now to be warm and in a lovely home. I’m very grateful for this. It allows me to really appreciate the change of seasons here…so different than L.A.

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ferris wheel

i have a theory.  (ha, i could almost hear the groans of my family as i typed that. i have lots of theories). anyway, i have this theory that i could leave a collection of just about anything on the kitchen counter, with some nice white paper under it, and someone in the family would eventually walk by and assemble a pattern for me. today’s proof–joseph’s symmetrical spoked wheel of maple seeds assembled over a half hour of boredom in the kitchen during a day off of school.

assembled pattern of ornamental maple seed pods in winter

saint paul, minnesota

  • Margaret says:

    It’s beautiful. Like looking through a kaleidoscope.

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  • Jenny says:

    So fun idea, it turned out beautiful!

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disarticulation

i have a 10 year old boy who is currently finding out about the world by putting things together, and taking things apart. while i transplanted a terrarium full of succulents the other day, he quietly made this. or perhaps “unmade” is the better term.

baby (volunteer) jade plant, deconstructed

 

  • margie says:

    a scientific mind at heart
    i think this might be a jade plant .

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    • Oh yes, of course it is a jade plant. thank you. wow, late night posting is not recommended!

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where the action is

somewhere beneath the snow that just today got piled higher than the roof of our car, somewhere under there, as unimaginably distant currently as a constellation of stars, some unobtrusive swelling is preparing itself to be a daffodil in our back yard. it is the first of march.

daffodil bulb and roots

 

  • Jorge says:

    Bientôt la terre s’éveillera au baiser du soleil.

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