i am happy not to have been one of the grubs chewing just slightly too noisily through the trunk of this tree when the hairy woodpecker arrived and started cocking her head sideways to listen.

tree trunk with woodpecker holes old and new

sucker lake regional trail, saint paul, minnesota

most people would look at this image and be drawn to the striking red lanterns (aka male anthers) hanging from these prairie grass seed heads. but this former aerospace engineer can’t help looking at the sinuous shape of that stem, and thinking poetically to herself, “Aaaaaah, yes: f(x) = sin(x). Beautiful. Just beautiful.”

single stem of sideoats grama in late summer with red male stamen

rice creek regional trail, saint paul, minnesota

for most of us in the united states, today is the first day of school. and i can’t tell you how ready i am. usually i love having the kids home, running down to the lake, and then up through the house on the way to the neighbors’ across the street. happy kids, with wet hair, and tanned shoulders, and an eager puggle at their heels. but this year, perhaps because of our france trip, i am craving, absolutely craving, some structure and routine. i feel like i have been adrift since june. step one is always to get more regular and disciplined about my daily walks. my goal is every day, rain or shine, 3-5 miles.  i’m pretty good about it, but in summer with the kids around all day, my resolve melts.  if it is too hot, or too humid, i make up the thinnest of excuses. so, in an effort to jump start my new back-to-school routine, i took three long walks this weekend. and on each walk, i found one STILL-worthy item. three for three. i am choosing to take this as an auspicious start to the new (school) year.

striped feather, raccoon jaw bone, bittersweet berries

pike island, vadnais lake, and sucker lake trails in saint paul, minnesota

still blog doesn’t get labor day weekend off, so i spent a little time this afternoon vacillating between “i should” and “i want.” what i should be doing is gathering samples and arranging them on white paper. what i wanted to do was order some fries and a coke at sweeney’s, an old saint paul bar where my husband and i first met. in the end, sweeney’s won, as perhaps it should have, and instead of new samples, i went to my box of bird nests for inspiration.

a collection of nests

all from saint paul, minnesota, except one from autignac, france

it just occurred to me that these acorns not only look a bit like olives, but they gradually turn from green to black like olives as well. on the other hand, i’m not going to go sauté some garlic and onions in acorn oil. there are limits to the similarities.

red oak acorns in green, black, and tan

saint paul, minnesota