chew toy

i left this pheasant wing in my studio after photographing it, thinking hard about how i would try to describe its beauty, which manages to be both subtle and showy at the same time, both broadly colorful and intricately patterned. later we had friends over and they brought their siberian husky, who trotted around the house, familiarizing herself with all the new smells, and who, in the process, simplified the task of describing this wing. it is a chew toy.

male ringed-neck pheasant wing

pedestrian

this very (non)exotic plant was growing in a manicured row along the foundation of the minneapolis ywca. just to be clear, still blog is about nature, but nature is not always about wilderness.

firethorn bush twig (Pyracantha)

you know what i mean

my husband is a hunter and lover of wild game. but when his friend texts him, without explanation, a photo of a pheasant he just shot, and steve texts back one word, “yes,” what he means is, “yes, mary jo wants the feathers.”

pheasant feathers

white

these are white feathers. i’m hardly sure what that means anymore, after removing the “white” paint from my walls this fall, and replacing it with paint that was so much whiter it made the previous paint look a deep buff-peach. these feathers happened to catch some late afternoon light in mid-november in minnesota. at the same time of year in southern france they would have had a faint magenta hue. north of here, perhaps a bit more blue. i’m beginning to think white feathers have terroir, they are so susceptible to local conditions.

white mallard feathers

war weary

i only remembered that it was veterans day last night when i pulled up this photo. it looks so sort of proud but also so tired, with what could very well be bullet holes up high near its shoulders. i did not intend this as a tribute, but i’m letting it stand as such, with hopes that that our soldiers, both healthy and not,  feel they are getting what they need from us,  and with hopes that we will need less sacrifice from them someday soon.

basswood leaf in november