I hadn't gone far down the road when I noticed frost-covered teasel heads, so I waded through the snow in the ditch and started taking pictures. As I panned the landscape on zoom while peering at the flip-screen, this iced-up Canada thistle jumped into view. Y'know, it's not often you can say that thistles have any redeeming merit other than as part of an extremely complex ecologic chain. One certainly does not associate this common, invasive and problematic weed with beauty, yet here it springs forth with elegant and delicate grace. That said, I will be content to photograph thistles on their own side of the fence, thank you, and will keep an alternate food source in good supply for the Goldfinches who visit my yard.
365Caws is now in its 14th year of publication, and was originally intended to end after 365 days. It has sometimes been difficult for me to find new material, particularly during the winter months, but now as I enter my own twilight years, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide daily posts. It is my hope that along the way I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world. If so, I can rest, content in the knowledge that my work here has been done.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Thorns Of Frost
I hadn't gone far down the road when I noticed frost-covered teasel heads, so I waded through the snow in the ditch and started taking pictures. As I panned the landscape on zoom while peering at the flip-screen, this iced-up Canada thistle jumped into view. Y'know, it's not often you can say that thistles have any redeeming merit other than as part of an extremely complex ecologic chain. One certainly does not associate this common, invasive and problematic weed with beauty, yet here it springs forth with elegant and delicate grace. That said, I will be content to photograph thistles on their own side of the fence, thank you, and will keep an alternate food source in good supply for the Goldfinches who visit my yard.
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