one of my favorite walks this fall was along grass lake. about 300 meters of the trailside is covered in wild cucumber vines. now with all the leaves down, it looks like mounds of fishing nets laid out to dry. unlike wild grapevines, the cucumber vines are very fragile. i would love to lift a whole loom-sized web of the vines off of the supporting twig-scaffolding to bring home and photograph, and maybe even hang on the wall like a textile weaving. but i would need several helpers to do it. and now that the temps are well below freezing, volunteers are scarce. funny.

wild cucumber vine wreath, white cedar, and wild asparagus berries

grass lake, sucker lake, and turtle lake trials: saint paul, minnesota