while the kids were sitting in front of the fire doing homework, and i was sitting at my computer editing yesterday’s milkweed photo, we heard two closely spaced thumps from what sounded like the next room.  the kids looked up startled and asked “what was that?”.  i assured them it nothing to worry about. sadly, an hour later my son found a pair of dead fox sparrows on our deck.  the odd thing about it, was that i think they hit the wall, and not a window.  i wonder if they were in a mating chase.

we were all pretty shook up about it.  my husband has been throwing seed out his office window for these guys for the past three weeks, and we had all got pretty attached to their entertaining two footed jump-kick scratching in the leaf litter.

found on our deck, saint paul, minnesota

p.s tonight i have an art opening from 7-10 pm at light grey art lab in minneapolis, minneosta.  please join me if you are in town.

milkweeds are a favorite of mine.  they remind me of my wild and unsupervised childhood summers when we snapped their stems to see the sticky white latex milk well up from the hollow stems. in late summer, we would pull apart the pods and send the silken seeds floating on the hot breeze.

gathered today on the highway 694 & rice street off ramp, saint paul, minnesota

this  bird skeleton is about three inches long. my son found it along the edge of our street in languedoc.  i wrapped it in tissue and put it in a glass jar to get it home. the other day, as i was photographing the skeleton, my son turned to his sister and remarked with wondering sarcasm, “we brought that home from france.” but he couldn’t hide  how much he loves it.  that’s why he won’t let me put it in my art show this friday.  too precious.

autignac, france

the older i get, the more i gravitate to the old and weathered shells on the beach. not so many years ago i passed over the broken shells wanting only perfection.  now, i find the shell on the right, with it’s exposed insides and interesting textures, far more beautiful and inviting.

florida fighting conch shells

found on the beaches of north captiva island, on the gulf coast of florida

it has been sleeting.  the arrival of spring keeps getting delayed.  it has been hard on everyone.  but even harder for this bud, i suspect.

my yard, saint paul, minnesota