the broken one

here, as with the delicate members of our own species, the broken one calls for our attention.

shelling peas

st. croix valley, minnesota

a twisted bouquet

this arrangement created itself.  a feral morning glory wrapped itself around a shaft of timothy grass, and forced some crown vetch to join the menage. it all got very twisted.

tangle of roadside plants

saint paul, minnesota

about time

ok it’s midsummer, and you’ve gotten a lot of flowers and blossoms and intriguingly postured stems over the last few weeks. but STILL blog isn’t just about beautiful things. it’s about nature, and nature isn’t always beautiful. unless you consider a mudstained raccoon scull with two remaining molars beautiful. which i do.

unidentified mammal skull (probably raccoon)

mississippi river flats, saint paul, minnesota

fluff

in theory it’s summer, the majority of our work is done for the year, our kids are home, we should be able to eliminate the fluff from our lives and just concentrate on the fundamental core of what we believe in and what we want to do almost every day. but sometimes the distractions seem relentless. this thistle fluff is so beautiful, but today i want to just blow it all away, and start with black.

thistle seeds

scarcity

had a good conversation tonight with good company. the subject of great cuisines came up, and one of our conclusions was the some great cuisines come precisely from places with impoverished soil and difficult growing conditions. in places like that, you have to learn to cook, because the ingredients aren’t just handed to you. in which case, how do we define the cuisine of our beloved northland, where the soil couldn’t be more fertile, but what is scarce is summer heat and sunshine?

le panicaut champêtre (Eryngium campestre)

languedoc, france