i pulled this anemic winter leaf from a vine this afternoon on my daily walk. i’m pretty sure it was a wild cucumber vine. the (lack of) color caught my attention. the leaf looked like i felt after this winter, a little damaged but still intact. as i was photographing the leaf two hours later, i thought to myself, “this will be my homage, my send off, to a long difficult winter. from here on out, i will focus only on spring and promise and renewal”. then i got in the car to pick up my son from school, and the weather report said ‘70% chance of snow over the next two days.” i laughed. but anemically.

end of winter leaf

vadnais lake, saint paul, minnesota