the monarch in the middle of this arrangement will not be making the journey down to mexico this year, and there are too few of them left these days to afford even this small loss. so i am sending him, if only symbolically, southward toward warmer weather, surrounded by all the signs that it is time to go. i hope all of his brothers and sisters make it intact.

early september assemblage: cattail, sumac, red oak leaves, white pine needles, milkweed, and monarch butterfly

vadnais lake trail, saint paul, minnesota