Explore Outdoors ~ Shades of Winter Flowers

 This week pay attention to the colors of the flowers around you. The roses in one neighbor's garden displayed a range of hues from beige to faded peach to walnut and even colors of desert sand. Jot down the colors and shades you see. If you need some ideas for naming colors, drop by a paint store and check out the paint chips.

Winter Garden

The roses in my garden are beige, tan,

the color of espresso crema

or cafe con leche.

They remind me of desert sand

(depending on which desert),

a fortune cookie,

grade A maple syrup,

tortilla chips,

peanuts in the shell, 

peanuts out of the shell,

pecans and walnuts, 

amber, honey,

a faded peach, 

the end of summer.

The Beauty of Dead Flowers

In the past few days the temperature has taken a dive, snow has fallen, and my garden has gone from the gold and rusty reds of late fall to the brittle browns of not-yet-winter. 

There is a stark beauty to the end of the season. Without the distraction of brilliantly colored petals (and the attendant bees, flies, wasps, beetles, butterflies, caterpillars, spiders, and birds) I can see the underlying structure: the cones that held the individual flowers; the prickles and hairs on stems and leaves.

I can enjoy the beauty in the curves of the leaves…

Seedpods split, filled with seeds ready to fall at any moment …

The details of seeds waiting to lift off in the breeze…

What was once order is now all about letting go. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Wild Turkeys, painted by Jodie Mangor

Every now and then a flock of wild turkeys congregates on my front lawn. After scratching about, searching for acorns or beetles tucked beneath the thatch, they leave in a stately procession. 

I'm taking a break this weekend to eat pie and read books. See you on Monday.