the chicks are four weeks old already. they have reached their gawky adolescent stage, with all the goofy curiosity and heedless clumsiness of teenagers anywhere. oh, and did i mention they can fly?  it’s like a bunch of 16 year olds with pilot’s licenses.

golden buff chick at four weeks

saint paul, minnesota

there is a perfect french word, mordorée, that describes the feathers of game birds–a rich caramel color combined with glints of gold. the french use it to describe woodcock feathers, but i think the pheasant wing above fits the description as well. my husband just informed me that pheasants are actually not native to north america.  they were introduced from china in the 19th century.  i guess that makes them naturalized citizens.

male ring-necked pheasant wing

found on highway 95 along the saint croix river

marine on saint croix, minnesota

i am entirely delighted by the dark elegance of these two honey locust seed pods.  they look like aerobatic contrails.  or strings of dna.  the precision of poetry. the beauty of science.

honey locust seed pods

saint paul, minnesota

i bought white tulips a few days ago as a prop for a video i am filming with my daughter on making homemade yogurt.  i will share it with you when i am done.  this proud, shapely petal is all that remained of the tulips this afternoon.

i am making some spring-themed shadow boxes for my friend’s south minneapolis store called corazon.  I was about to glue this tiny blue jay feather into one of the boxes, but I was having trouble letting go of it.  so i photographed it for STILL blog.  now i can let it go.

blue jay feather

saint paul, minnesota