This morning dawned bright and cold. The air temperature was hovering around zero, the wind was blowing sharply from the north, and the sun was crisp. Our surroundings in the Twin Cities had changed over the previous 24-hours as we had added 17 inches of snow to the five inches that remained from our last snowfall. With the forecast on Friday of heavy snow by Saturday, people were busy preparing for the worst. At 9:00pm Friday night the grocery store parking lot was packed, and all the checkout lines inside were 10 to 12 people deep. Saturday saw very few people on the roads as the snow fell all day long, with the wind blowing it into drifts that were beautifully artistic, not to mention deep. I’ve learned that in a snow of this type, you do NOT wait until the snow stops to shovel. Those people who didn’t begin to shovel until today were faced with snow up to their knees, and that was once they had cleared a way to get out the door. For all the gray and snowy skies of yesterday, the bright sunshine today was welcome, even if the temperatures stayed only in the single digits. It is a beautiful white landscape here, and I’m sure it will be a white Christmas in the Twin Cities this year.
St. Paul
Story Lines: an exhibit of prints and photographs
I have a new exhibit that’s opening this week in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Ellen Wold, a photographer and printmaker, and myself will be exhibiting at the Unity Church – Unitarian from November 3rd through the 30th. The opening reception is this coming Friday night, November 5th, from 6:00 to 9:00pm. The Unity Church – Unitarian is located at 732 Holly Avenue in Saint Paul. My photograph that is shown here is titled “Work in a field of lavender” and was made in Sequim, Washington. The Sequim Lavender Festival is the largest lavender festival in North America and takes place each year in July. With the warmth and sun of summer and fields of lavender all around, the distinctive scent of the purple landscape permeates the air. I invite those of you in the vicinity of Saint Paul to come to the opening reception and the exhibit. Ellen and I would enjoy sharing our art and our stories with you.
The scent of lilacs
One of the most delightful signs of spring is the emergence of the lilacs. Here in Minnesota lilacs are used as trees, shrubs, and even hedges. They are in every neighborhood, with some bushes looking like they’ve been there for decades. By the sides of the highways and roadways there are blocks of lilacs, all in full bloom with various shades of purples, pinks, and whites. Even more exciting than the sight of lilacs is the wonderful scent that floats throughout the air at this time of year. A fresh rain shower, a light breeze, and the air is alive with their floral scent. I have cut some of our lilacs and brought them into the house to enjoy the scent. Although the blooms don’t last long, I will not tire of replacing the spent blossoms to enjoy their fragrance for the brief few weeks that they grace our landscape.
The unexpected strikes again
In what seems to be a theme, once again I’ve been surprised by the unexpected scenes that present themselves. A dear friend was driving home from work the other night and told me about a field of US flags that were just down the hill from the Minnesota State Capitol Building. In my mind I was picturing a few small eight-inch tall flags. And yet when I went there to see for myself, I was amazed at a lawn full of 800 full-size US flags along with another area filled with 1,500 pinwheels. This amazing scene was set up by the Minnesota chapter of Prevent Child Abuse America (www.pcamn.org). Their Child Abuse Prevention Healing Field was in honor of Minnesota’s children and also those people who have survived child abuse. With late evening light streaming across the flags and the Capitol Building, and a light breeze to unfurl the flags, it presented a very striking image. For a few short days this scene graced our Capitol grounds, causing many passers-by both on foot and in cars to stop and reflect on the scene, the beauty, and the cause.
Spring color in bloom
It’s winter outside — the ground is covered in white, the temperature is in the teens. But this morning I walked into a breath of spring when I visited the McNeely Conservatory in Como Park. The Winter Flower Show is now on display in the Sunken Garden, and it’s colors and sights are a treat to the eyes as much as its smells and scents are wonderful to experience. The pinks of the azaleas and the pale whites and yellows of the pansies were a beautiful combination of color — soft and delicate as only spring can be. In order to create a “softer” feel to this photograph, I placed a piece of plastic wrap over my lens. It had a wonderful effect of softening the lines and making the image more about the colors and the “feel” of the colors than of the lines of the flowers. As we deal with the snow storm that’s moving through over the next three days, I’ll easily return to my photos and my memories of the smells and colors of the conservatory garden.
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