I hit the road this morning under overcast skies hoping to see a nicely frosted landscape somewhere. As I traveled the sun came out and there were breaks in the clouds showing bits of blue sky here and there. The day was becoming lovely. But…I just had no motivation and just wasted a bunch of gas driving around and accomplishing nothing. A shame that I did not really even enjoy the morning as I kept thinking that if I wasn’t making images then I should be cleaning the yard after the snowfall or getting my info ready for taxes. All was not lost…I did buy a box of ginger green tea, some asparagus, fresh raspberries and a block Parmigiano Reggiano. No they are not all for the same “Chopped” mystery basket.
Anyway, the subject of skunk cabbage was raised the other day. I do have one image of them blossoming in the snow. So, for today, I am sharing this very old image that is from a scan of a Velvia transparency from March of 2004 and one of my last film shots.
I’ve heard the Common Yellowthroats may sometimes nest in the hollow of the leaves. And sometimes maples will give it a shot.
I think I’ll grab some mid-afternoon grub. Vanilla Bean Greek Yoghurt with raspberries, blueberries and chopped walnuts sounds good. 🙂 Tonight we are having Zucchini Potato Latkes stacked with goat cheese filling. They are even better than they sound. Also from Whole Foods. 🙂
Stephen Gingold Nature Photography Blog 
I love the skunk cabbage picture. They truly appear to be an alien species rising out of the snow.
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Aliens maybe…but very welcome visitors after an awful winter. I eagerly await their appearance.
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That’s a rather fine scan of a Velvia shot, Steve. It has matured well.
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Thanks, Andrew. At one time I had a Nikon Coolscan 4000 which did a very nice job of it.
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Love both of your photos; so interesting, really engaging…I also thought the lunch suggestions sounds quite amazing.
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I am always looking for something interesting that is a bit more thoughtful for the diet, Charlie. Whole Foods is a lot pricey, but the stuff is good.
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A lot is right. In fact, here in Omaha, many folks don’t call it Whole Foods, but rather Whole Paycheck. They do, however, carry some wonderful things that are not to be found elsewhere. Guess it all balances out.
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Yeah, it’s called that here too. I try to stay under control when shopping there. We don’t eat much red meat, but what we do I get at Whole Foods. There are a few other “staples” that we like each week, but it is just too expensive. I think my eyes do one of those bulging out things when I get behind someone with a heaping full grocery cart. That’s way more than one of my paychecks.
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Whole Foods has been making a push to sell more items at bargain prices, something I’ve taken advantage of over the past few months. The company started in Austin and we currently have five stores in the area, including the headquarters store, which is something of a tourist attraction (and a good place to people-watch).
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5? And some folks around here have to drive 30-50 miles to get to ours. Funny too as we are pretty “crunchy granola” in these parts.
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It’s all about the food at the end of the day!
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A good meal does make things better.
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What opportunists, those yellowthroats and maples.
The menu sounds good.
What is this ‘film’ substance of which you speak?
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Well, the yoghurt mid-afternoon snack was tasty. The latke stack has been here before so I am looking forward to dinner…as I always do.
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Your maple’s seeds seem to be even more persistent than ours–I didn’t think that was possible.
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I was remiss and did not return later to see if any made it. I figured that one would get larger and cause the skunk cabbage to droop and allow it to put roots into the soil. But I have no idea if it really happened or if they all perished.
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My attentions here were entirely preoccupied by the dinner. Zucchini Potato Latkes with goat cheese filling. Wow. We used to raise Saanen dairy goats. We milked them for perhaps 10 years and even made cheese from time-to-time. I’m wondering how one stuffs a potato latke? I thought those were uniformly solid. Are you saying they are like pierogies and may be stuffed in the same way? In either case … sounds delicious. We had bacon and eggs sandwiches … the eggs were still warm from being removed from under one of our layers, and the bacon was our own. Had to plow the lane today … we’re up for a mix of slush/snow/rain over the next 36 hours. Still haven’t touched the camera or new pack. D
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They are stacks, David. Three latkes with the goat cheese in between. Just finished dinner and they were excellent. Second time around with them, but as Gary and I were saying above…expensive. $5 each, although they are sold by the pound. One is more than enough for me and Mary Beth just has a half.. As a side dish, we had a spaghetti squash casserole that Mary Beth had made for a social supper with her church. Squash, mushrooms, black olives and some pasta sauce mixed in. And a tossed salad…our salads are never actually tossed. Almost vegan were it not for the cheese. Whole Foods has it on their recipes listing so I was able to print it out. We’ll try our hands at it but with sweet potato instead of whatever white potato they use.
I am envious for the freshness you are able to harvest.
We are due for the same junk tomorrow. Snow to start then the nasty stuff during the afternoon. But we are also due for some serious melting later in the week. I shoveled through about 6 feet deep and 4 feet high of plow packed snow to free up the storm drain.
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The pic from 2004 is a real beauty. You must have had a trrmendous scanner. That’s an interesting fact about the Yellowthroats nesting in the skunk cababe. I see the Yellowthroasts during spring and fall migration. I love those little warblers.
Sounds like you are eating very wholesome food. Nothng better than food from Whole Foods It seems to have been designed for yuppies and above who have the money to shop there on a regular basis.
There is no Whole Foods in my town. The nearest is in Austin. The closest I can get to good food is to buy organic and Central Market food at my local HEB store. Non GMO food is available but you have to know were it is in HEB. But the variety of food is quite limited. I get organic brown eggs and organic soy milk.
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Thanks, Yvonne. For years we did very little shopping at Bread and Circus. It was just coincidental that we started going there more after the name change to Whole Foods. One reason was the prices and the other was the sense of yuppiness. I don’t know how so many people can afford to fill their carts there, but I guess there is enough worry about GMO’s, non-organic and just plain food impurities that folks will drop a week’s pay there.
It is nice that you can get some organic foods at your local store. More and more organic food and non-GMO is showing up in regular stores, but there is little regulation as to just how much they are living up to the title.
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Skunk cabbage, now there’s a new one for me. It’s a beautiful photograph but does it smell horrid? I’m most impressed with your healthful shopping basket. Green tea is divine and I love the sound of the latkes with goats cheese and your yoghurt with berries and walnuts.
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Yes it does, Lottie. But the leaf has to be broken for the stench to be appreciated. I have never tried to smell the spathe, but it attracts flies so must also have a bit of an odor.
I eat all too much that is less than the healthful choice, but I do enjoy the good stuff too. Mary Beth is very health conscious and I learn from her…but I do find some of my own improvements for the diet.
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Thank you for the skunk images, Steve. I was so delighted. I didn’t know that about the bird~I’ll watch out for that this year. How cute would that be?!
Mmmm, lunch and dinner sound wonderful.
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I’ve never seen that either, Melissa. Nature always has something new in store for us.
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I’m not sure I’ve ever seen skunk cabbage. You mentioned that they generate heat — does that contribute to the maples (and perhaps other plants) sprouting there? Both of the photos are neat, but I really like the first. It seems mysterious.
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It is possible that the skunk generated heat does aid the surrounding, or in this case squating, plants. I guess we’d need an ecological specialist to tell us. I’ll try to remember to do some searching for the answer.
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BTW, skunk cabbage can be quite prolific in wetlands…at least here in the northeast.
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It’s always fun to see one plant growing on another. Not a lot seems to be required for a foothold.
I’ve never heard of latkes with zucchini, much less goat cheese. Leave it to Whole Foods….
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It was a first for me too, Steve. Probably the “Chopped” effect. They are pretty good, but expensive, as are all their prepared foods, so just an occasional treat.
I am used to finding plants or small trees growing on larger trees, usually in a crotch, but sitting on top of a green plant like this was a first for me also. It doesn’t take much for the foothold, but survival may take a bit more. I wish I had monitored it through the summer and into the following year.
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I clicked the link in your reply. Love this! I see I didn’t comment back then, but I was working hard then and had no time, so better late than never.
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I am glad that you checked this out, Lynn. Thanks. I am also glad that you are not as pressed for time as back then. 🙂
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Me too. You seem to be managing job and passion for mature and photography well. Are you working PT? Or is it just a terrifically sane job?
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Me too. You seem to be managing job and passion for mature and photography well. Are you working PT? Or is it just a terrifically sane job?
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I am working part time, 7 hours four days. I am hoping that I can drop it to three eventually. Not sane but I am used to it.
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Mike Powell linked me into this post. Fascinating, thank you.
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Thanks for the trip here and the comment! We visit some of the same blogs.
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