hope and its opposite

dried bract and empty seed pods, hanging next to buds full of sap. it’s good to see both sides of the optimism/pessimism spectrum. i was a bud who married a bract. and now we are both a little of both. which is a kind of growth all by itself.

winter basswood branch with buds and seed bract

weatherbeaten

this wasp nest looks a little weatherbeaten, and it reminds me of a weatherbeaten cabin out there somewhere in the north woods, grayed by wind and snow and rain, with a couple of shutters hanging cockeyed. i’ve never really thought about the word “weatherbeaten,” but it’s a good word. here in the north, we pride ourselves on our immunity from the excesses of weather that would leave people from other regions prostrate. but the weather does beat you here. it throws punches, and scratches your skin, and issues threats. we fight back. but we are all a little bit weatherbeaten.

paper wasp nest

getting there

ok i think i’ve got a vision for the next year of still blog. it is good to have smart friends who are willing to brainstorm with you, and who are capable of seeing the world not just from their own perspective but from yours as well. one of the options under consideration was black and white photos by the way, but i don’t want you to see this photo and think that that is the direction i’ve decided to go. i haven’t finalized everything yet, but i think i’ll be returning to white backgrounds, sticking with color photos, and liberalizing, just a tiny bit, the constraints i’ve placed on what subject matter i’m willing to consider as still-blog worthy. more to come. can’t wait.

unidentified found feathers

speechless

i’m not technically speechless. i could find something to say about this feather. about the possible reasons behind its evolutionary necessity. about how remarkable it is that the patterns are so three dimensional and that they run almost independent of the grain of the feather’s barbs. but i think in this case an awed silence is the most eloquent tribute to this monument to nature’s strangeness and beauty.

great argus pheasant wing feather (Argusianus bipunctatus)

sorry friend

this guy tried scooting under my car on the way up our driveway and changed his mind at exactly the wrong time. i’m one of those drivers who breaks for everything, mice, voles, crows, robins, rabbits, opossums, raccoons, and deer. but i didn’t have time to break for this red squirrel, so i thought it only fair to take his portrait, and celebrate the quick, taut life he lived inside that resplendent, copper coat. i’m guessing he has scolded me dozens of times as i got in the car in the morning, and awakened me too early at many summer sunrises. i don’t begrudge him a thing.

red squirrel

shoreview, saint paul, minnesota