Seed pods
This fall in addition to admiring the lovely fall colors, I am noticing seeds and seed pods. Seed pods come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but most are rather brown and wrinkly or spikey. They are easy to overlook compared to the flashy colors of flowers and leaves. At times I even considered them ugly. But this fall I am attracted to the potential they hold.
When seed pods open, their seeds are often lovely. Milkweed has white fluff attached to each little dark seed. The seeds look like little dancers in swirling white dresses as they burst free of the seed pod and dance through the air. Phlox have fuzzy seeds. Maple seeds which spiral and spin as they fall through the air are even called “maple spinners”. Acorns wear little hats. Locust seeds rattle as they dry. Spikey sweet gum tree seed pods can be stuck together like bristle blocks. And I love watching goldfinches eat the bristly coneflower seeds throughout the winter.
Most amazing is that each seed pod contains so many seeds, each of which has the potential to become its own new plant or tree. Right now I feel like a seed pod which is just bursting open and sending out its seeds. I am exploring new adventures. As part of this exploration, I am starting many new projects. I know I am starting more things than I can juggle and sustain long-term, but this is a time to try new things, much like seeds blowing on the breeze.
My home looks like the breeze has scattered creative chaos through every room. There is a quilt spread out across the living room floor. There are sketchbooks on several tables. There are piles or scraps of fabric scattered across tables, chairs, couches, and floors. My sewing machines are surrounded by commissioned projects. My computer has multiple active windows with more tabs than I will admit. I launched my website, started teaching private art and sewing lessons, reorganized my garage to create a dyeing and teaching studio, mixed up a new vat of indigo, committed to a daily sketch routine, knit one slipper, and started various other creative projects. On top of all that, my mind is swirling with a kaleidoscope of additional creative projects- quilt series, fabric dyeing and surface-design plans, clothing designs, blog posts, weaving projects (I’ll need to dust off my loom), ……….
Over the next months I will decide which areas to explore more fully, like seeds nestling into the ground, sending out roots and sprouting new leaves. I am confident some projects will stall out and be abandoned while others will thrive and grow, much like the seeds that progress from sprout to sapling. I can’t see far ahead enough to know which current projects will develop into long-term passions, just like I can’t predict which acorn will grow into the next sturdy shade tree. But for now I am enjoying dancing on the breeze, exploring new adventures, scattering creative chaos along my path.
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