Observing Beauty in Senescence
May 4, 2019
In February my friend Lynda and I went to Fort DeSoto Park, which is sort-of near St. Petersburg (the one in Florida). I was having a hard time finding something photograph-worthy until I gave into my fondness for dying and dead palm fronds. Then I couldn’t get enough of them.
Romancing Reality 
Not that kind of thing I normally like to look at. The fact that you got me to look is quite an accomplishment. The fact that you got me to linger is even more remarkable.
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May 4, 2019 at 10:02 PM
Thank you for lingering, Michael! Isn’t it wonderful when something we’ve overlooked as a matter of course suddenly grabs our attention.
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May 5, 2019 at 10:27 AM
Yes. Even better when it’s something we actively disliked. You really opened my eyes. But isn’t that one of the prime reasons for art?
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May 5, 2019 at 10:38 AM
Absolutely!
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May 5, 2019 at 11:01 AM
I always used to say that the only good palm frond was a dead palm frond and now you have provided proof. But seriously, some really nice shots, Linda. Nice work.
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May 4, 2019 at 10:11 PM
Thanks, Ken. I’m sure this isn’t the last of the palm fronds that you will see on this blog.
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May 5, 2019 at 10:28 AM
Wonderful series, Linda; all of them. If I have to pick a favorite it would be the 2nd one…. 🙂
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May 5, 2019 at 2:50 AM
Thank you, Harrie. I think the second one is my favorite, too. I love the subtle color variations.
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May 5, 2019 at 10:30 AM
Yes, I agree, a really good series. A
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May 5, 2019 at 6:02 AM
Thanks, Adrian. Dead palm leaves are something whose existence I never even thought about living in the northern U.S. But time spent in Florida has been full of surprises for me.
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May 5, 2019 at 10:34 AM
Having spent years in Arabia and Kenya, I have a great love for palms >>> and especially so for the dry, rattling noises their leaves make when being blown about by the wind >>> this sound brings back so many memories from far away and long ago. A
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May 6, 2019 at 5:14 AM
I can hear it now, too, Adrian. My memory is much more recent, but enjoyable nonetheless. Thank you for reminding me.
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May 6, 2019 at 10:54 AM
I particularly love the second one….
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May 5, 2019 at 6:49 AM
Thank you, Sue. That makes three of us.
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May 5, 2019 at 10:35 AM
Great!
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May 5, 2019 at 11:01 AM
I am swooning, Linda. All together, they’re brilliant. In the first photo, the gray leaves seem metallic, like silver or pewter, and the play of them against the fallen pine needles is beautiful. But you knew that, that’s why you made the photograph. Your mastery of the camera and the material is fully evident here. I like the way the third photo illustrates the life cycle. The way the fourth carries the weight of the fronds down to the bottom, I feel the pull. The fifth shows the beauty of the attachment and the drape of individual leaflets. I would be happy to live with the sixth on my wall – it feels like the end of a ballet. I like the positioning of #12 and #13 back to back. #18 is really, really rotting! 😉 So interesting, all the stages of senescence. And the final shot – perfect! I can’t get enough either, when you photograph them.
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May 5, 2019 at 1:42 PM
Ah, Lynn. You’re too generous. But thank you! Isn’t the variety in coloration amazing? I love “the end of a ballet,” and now I see/feel it that way, too.
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May 5, 2019 at 3:57 PM
Great idea for a topic…the beauty is subtle and compelling
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May 9, 2019 at 5:07 PM
Thank you, George. Glad to know your biologist self agrees.
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May 9, 2019 at 5:39 PM