Detail Diary, Vol #29
May is an idyll
May 2025
Dear friend,
I’ve spent most of May wondering why it can’t be May all summer long. We’ve graduated to full-canopy green but the green is still vibrating with freshness; the blossoms are mostly gone but there are roses and poppies and orchids; bees still find trees to fill with hum; the sun is benevolent and the rain is reasonable; hiking season is beginning in earnest. For me, it’s a perfectly calibrated month.
This month I also reached 500 Detail Diary entries—having posted most days, but not every day, since September 2023. As I’ve said before, keeping this Diary has been such a rich practice, helping me savor something about each subtle turn of season, not only the objectively perfect months. Can recommend!
As a sort of celebration and also an experiment, I would love to know who’s reading this. Most of my subscribers read quietly by email, which is perfectly lovely—but sometimes it’s nice to have a wave. So if you’re here, and you don’t mind clicking something that will take you to the browser/app (the best way to properly view this kind of post anyway, with all its photos and embedded Notes), here’s one way to say hi:
And/or you can click the heart at the bottom of the post (which of course, incidentally, makes the algorithm happy). Or better yet, leave a comment! If the web format doesn’t work for you, replying to the email is another possibility for saying hi.
No pressure to do this all the time, but it is always heartwarming to hear from you.
Meanwhile, read on for the Details…
🍃 Here is your usual reminder that this post is best viewed on the web or in the Substack app. (From email, click on the title of the post or “Read in app.”) Clicking on a Note will also take you to the browser/app to see its full text and additional photos. (If you’re in email and only see one photo per Note, chances are there are more.) 🍃
🌱 For an introduction to my Detail Diary, see here, or peruse past volumes. 🌱
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I caught the cottonwood at its silky bursting apogee of tumbling open every clasp, shaking out every tress, thickening the air with drift.
Answer: a coterie of orchids, or a rarity of orchids. Perfect!
Another thing about May: nesting season. I’m following several live nest cams of various bird species, a dear yearly ritual in wonder. I might do a full post on live stream nest musings soon.
Here are some progress shots from the kestrel nest on the University of Grenoble Alpes campus, two weeks apart.
I’ve enjoyed your detail in photos Anne. It is remarkably categorized for future years at university.
I am a Canadian senior, retired from education, who occasionally enjoys month long trips to France with my husband. We haven’t been to Grenoble, but did venture to the Interlaken area of Switzerland.
I Iove your notes and posts Anne; what an achievement to keep up with your self-appointed project, well done. The lively photos cover such a range of subjects and your texts are joyful, informative and witty! Thank you for all of that!