Winged seeds (samaras) have always fascinated me. I love to watch them catch the wind and spin gracefully as they fall from the trees. Their unique design provides them with the ability to slow their descent and also to catch a breeze, rise again, and in so doing land further from the parent tree.
The thought of trees (because potentially that is what they are) flying all around me gives wings to my imagination and I soar with them on new journeys.
The angles of their wings tell me if they came from ash-leaved maples (diverging at
60-degree angles from the stem), or from the Norway (diverging nearly horizontally).
Scarlet tipped green wings, deep plum wings, yellow veined spring green wings and other amazing colors spiral in profusion from trees in spring and autumn.
One morning while photographing the samaras, an unexpected light shot across my table. It reminded me that seeds need light and dark to realize their full potential. I liked this partnership of seed and light, so I invited them to dance together for some of the photos.
Some of these seeds have been my companions for over 40 years. They rest around my home on tables, bookcases and windowsills. I look at them and I am transported to the beginning of life, the promise of potential, and the gift of transformation.
Shadows and Light
I've often wished I could understand tree and flower talk. I'd love to listen to them and hear what they know and share of their life experiences. Since that wish hasn't come true for me yet...I contemplated on what their thoughts would look like if they communicated in images.
The images that presented themselves made great visual sense to me.
In the top picture the seeds are projecting the remembered colors of morning light....plus the night image of a comet speeding overhead.
In the lower picture the seeds shared the image they remembered of dove wings in flight...perhaps doves that had nests among the branches of the same tree that the seeds called home.