i decided today that there has been too much cold weather lamentation in this blog recently. so i would like to draw your attention not to the wintery twiggyness of this maple branch, but to its beauty–especially the delicate twin threads, like flower stamens, dangling from the ends of the five empty stems above the one remaining intact “helicopter.” i’d like to draw your attention not to the papery dry husks of the seed pods, but to the two dark chambers where next year’s growth waits, dormant but patient, for a little spring rain. not an ending, but a beginning.

maple seed pods and stems

my back yard