Have you heard of Waubonsie State Park? Well, today I became a resident here – a resident artist, to be specific. That means I’ll be spending the next nine days living full-time in a cabin at the park, working on photography that reveals even more […]
Poor wild bergamot. These unfortunate flowers look like a 7th grade bad perm: awkward and a little disheveled. It’s a shame. Wild bergamot – also known as wild beebalm – is an agreeable lavender color and popular with bees and all kinds of other insects. […]
Thanksgiving is one day to focus on what we’ve been given, calling out our blessings that on other days we don’t take the time to name: family, friends, health, wealth. In a way, counting blessings is also what this blog has been about. Since the […]
Butterflies of Iowa, rejoice! Come the last week of July, common ironweed bursts into purple-fuchsia bloom to attract your eyes and fill your bellies. Of course, this year it attracted my eyes too, so I shooed the butterflies away from a few stalks to bring […]
Early in this photography project, before most of the plants had been identified, a concerned friend asked if one specimen could possibly be giant hogweed. I was pretty sure it wasn’t … almost sure … umm, not sure enough. So I googled up giant hogweed […]
I can’t look at red clover without smiling. Seriously, take another look at it. I’ll bet you’re smiling too. Clover is a friend to everyone in the country. It used to be planted for use in hay before alfalfa came into favor but still lives […]
I’m excited to share some really neat news: in December, I will be participating in an Artist Residency at Waubonsie State Park in Hamburg, Iowa. It’s a wonderful artistic opportunity to spend nine days immersed in the Loess Hills landscape, living at the park and […]
When someone says “wildflower,” there’s a pretty good chance you think of a brown eyed Susan. These are probably the most well-known prairie flower, and for good reason – you can hardly travel a back road in Iowa in mid-summer without passing so many brown […]
Foxes are having a moment of popularity now – it seems like every hipster strolls their urban street sporting a coffee mug or phone case or t-shirt with a cute little fox face peering from it. Fair enough. Foxes are endearing and so are their […]
You see tons of photos every day – pictures from your friends and family sharing moments of their lives, from advertisers trying to sell you something , from schools and churches and community groups and news organizations. A few of those photos will leave a […]
