These are pages from my book, Feeling that Merriment, which is available for print on demand for $39.95 at MagCloud.

“Say It With Flowers” is the motto of professional florists.  Many flowers have special meanings in different cultures.  For me, flowers have been central to my life, growing up in a florist family, majoring in biology at Cornell, teaching biology at Ithaca High School, joining the Ithaca Garden Club, and designing and managing larger personal gardens at home.

Tulips were imported into the Netherlands from the Ottaman Empire in the 1600’s. They became very fashionable and expensive, but then the market collapsed. The period of time of great popularity was called “Tulip Mania”.

For several years I made portraits of flowers and seedpods. More recently I’ve focused on trees and remnants left by trees— tree trunks that were still growing and stumps that weren’t. I saw shapes, texture, sculptures, and an occasional strange creature. They had always been in our woods, but I hadn’t paid attention.

This is a chapter from my new book, Bailor Road. The book is available at MagCloud.com.