my friend kristin joined me on my walk yesterday.  i arrived with clipper and basket in hand, and announced that we were snipping the tips of any interesting weeds or twigs as we walked. she’s a good friend, so she simply nodded, turned and started gathering as we walked and talked. it was a balmy zero degrees celsius, so our walk stretched out for longer than usual. we talked about STILL and about how the same trail is never the same two days in a row. by july standards, our trail was barren and spare. but by february standards, there was an almost suffocating abundance. despite the snow cover, all the grass and flower stems were still visible. and full of variety. by february all those stems will be buried beneath two feet of snow. and only the bare tree branches will be visible.  STILL has taught me many things. not the least of which is the relativity of abundance.

an abundance of december stems

grass lake trail, saint paul, minnesota