usually i choose my photos for this blog because they are either pretty, or interesting, or both, and usually i have several photos to choose from, so i choose the one that is 1) either pretty, or interesting, or both, and 2) has a story attached to it, whether an interesting biological fact, or an interesting personal connection. this is just a pretty thing. it is not particularly interesting, except that it is a white poplar which is not native to my region but which thrives in conditions that are identical to my region. and it doesn’t have a story, except that i, mary jo hoffman, found it pretty (but not particularly interesting) on a day when my husband and i talked for a long time about how many balls we have in the air right now and how we sort of have to keep the lucrative balls in the air, and how we very much wish to keep the creative, non-lucrative balls in the air, and so i felt, at 10:00 pm, that i needed to post something that was just pretty and easy and not necessarily interesting and that didn’t have a story attached to it that would require me to think about the story, and now that i am done with this post, i realize that the photo is both pretty and interesting, and has a story attached to it.

silver poplar in winter

sucker lake regional trail, saint paul, minnesota