i got up early to photograph this magnolia bloom.  i still struggle with photographing white subjects on a white background.  it’s tricky.  i thought the soft morning light might help.  i think it did, and i was able to catch this particular bloom in the process of opening up for the day.

magnolia bloom

saint paul, minnesota

i asked my husband if i was posting too many catkins.  he said no, it’s catkin season, and I suppose it is.  i hope you agree with him. everything looks a little wooly right now.

remember those poplar pussy-willow buds i posted two weeks ago?  here is the same tree today.

poplar catkins

rice creek regional trail, saint paul, minnesota

a determined crocus from my yard

saint paul, minnesota

there is a massive cottonwood tree near the entrance of the rice creek trail i walk on most days.  over the past year and four months of doing STILL blog, this single tree has provided me with more material than any other single subject; the early spring buds, the sturdy waxy heart shaped leaves, the cottton-fluff released in fall.  all of it wonderfully photogenic.  and yet after 16 months of almost daily observation, today is the first time i noticed that the catkins in may are red.  ruby red.  sometimes it is hardest to see what is right in front of us.

cottonwood catkins in may

rice creek regional trail, saint paul, minnesota

this mole hand was a challenge for me–just too anthropomorphically creepy for this blog. even down to the sort-of fingernails. yyyyeeeuuuhhhh.

but then i see beauty too. i think about the perfect mole-ness of it. the millenia that went into adapting it perfectly to the task of excavating shallow tunnels. the satisfaction of another inch of soil cleared. the happiness of being a mole in possession of this set of claws, and nothing to do for the rest of the day but dig.

saint paul, minnesota