we have some pin cherries in the back yard and the other day i saw one branch with leaves that had been variously infested with spindle galls. apparently harmless, but unnerving.

spindle galls on pin cherry leaves

st paul, mn

i hope you will forgive the biological incorrectness of this photo for the chance it gives to show these three beautiful eggs together.

robin, cardinal, and turtle dove eggs

st paul, mn and jean-luc and nicole’s syrah vineyard, languedoc

these unremarkable bulrushes turned suddenly compelling when sliced lenthwise. can’t you imagine how the lake water wicks up the spongy fibers of those interiors?

great bulrush stems split lengthwise

turtle lake, mn

our kids and their friends spend these long hot days down at the lake, finding anything they can think to do, as long as it takes place in the cool shallow water. minnow catching, inevitably, suggests itself. these were released quickly onto white paper, then gathered up and put back in their jar. i can’t vouch for their fate after that, but still blog, to my knowledge, did not harm them.

minnows

turtle lake, mn

a morning spent decluttering my basement turned up two old plant presses that my husband and i had used to save some beloved leaves and flowers a decade or more ago. and suddenly a banal morning turned sublime.

pressed minnesota flora