pink hair

i was surprised to see these foxtail grasses on the roadside today, glinting in the afternoon sun. i guess i associate them with summer. anyway, that hint of pinky-purple you can see in the hairy fluff was lit up by the sun, and these long haired beauties looked like all the other teenagers who are dying their hair such fun colors these days. why not?

foxtail barley grasses in october (Hordeum jubatum)

petal is forward

at my local grocery store the other day, they were handing out free roses. everyone got two: one for themselves, and one for giving. they said something about it being “petal it forward day”. i ave not googled petal it forward, but i am guessing it was intended to remind up how fun it is to gift flowers, for no reason, at whim, on an otherwise ordinary day. i gave my second rose to my mom. she was delighted. if you get a chance, maybe you can try petaling it forward this week. i think it will make you and the recipient equally happy.

pink rose

infinity in a dried leaf ♾️

i went to a friends house for dinner the other night. on the sidewalk in front of her house, i found this dried leaf. an escapee from the neighbor’s landscape plantings. in the early evening darkness, all i noticed at first was the nice bass clef-curve of the base. i picked it up thinking i would use it in a composition some day, as i can always use curved pieces. but when i lifted it to my eye, i noticed the even finer curling tip, i squealed with delight.

(unidentified) dried leaf

one red oak

this red oak tree in my neighbor’s yard, which is in peak autumn color, had a large branch that was low enough for me to reach. so i gathered a basket full of leaves and cut a circle from each one. what looked like a uniform brilliant flame red in the sunshine, has a lot more color variation on close inspection.

leaf circles from the same northern red oak tree in autumn

committed

this is what ten years of filling my pockets with pine cones looks like.

pine cone collection*

*most of these pine cones are from minnesota, california, and southern france