yesterday we heard the first toads begin their spring trilling in the cattails. soon there will be long skeins of jellied eggs in the shallows all trying to turn into toads. then today, on my morning walk, i found myself under an elm branch loaded with fruits all trying to turn into elm trees. the fruits, i decided, looked a lot like little tadpoles. so what you get this morning is an elm-seed paisley, trying to turn into a tadpole.

elm tree samaras

pike island, saint paul, minnesota