i picked up my camera to go look for today’s inspiration, and discovered it right in front of me.  my son joseph had made several atmospheric cairns on the dining room buffet to serve as mountainous landscape obstacles for several tiny ninja characters…

lake superior beach rocks

grand marais, minnesota

i love the color of blue spruce.  i have loved it ever since childhood.  we had one in our yard when i grew up.  the blue spruce is not native to minnesota.  it is a rocky mountain tree.  but it’s a popular horticultural plant,  so we have lots of them around.  the silver-sage colored needles are a welcome variation on the sometimes monotonous green palettes of both winter and summer.

saint paul, minnesota

it finally warmed up enough to get out with the dog for a long walk.  we have had a lot of snow recently, so there is a clean white backdrop to everything.  this collections of twigs was easy to assemble.  it only took a few minutes.  managing the dog with an arm full of twigs, however, was less easy.

rice creek regional trail, saint paul, minnesota

a close-up of the scalloped siding of our neighbors’ summer house. think of all the dedicated and anonymous labor.  i don’t know whether the leaves grew through the nest, or the nest was painstakingly built around the stems of the leaves. but either thought fills me with wonder.

our driveway, saint paul, mn

this paper wasp nest hung over my driveway all summer.  i cut it down yesterday after i learned that wasps will never reuse a previous nest.

the thousands of workers that built this nest were visible in a loose, shifting cloud around the nest all summer.  meanwhile the queen was building up her fat reserves to overwinter, and she is most likely sitting still in a tree crevice nearby.  she will start looking for a spot to build a new home in april or may.

saint paul, minnesota