Pine Cones, Crochet, Veteran's Day

I'm starting to design my Christmas card print... a mature seed pine cone. All my life I've seen pine cones and didn't realize they are always paired: cones that disperse pollen in the wind ('male') 
+ cones that produce (mostly winged) seeds ('female').
 Or maybe I just don't remember--I probably learned when I was a kid.

Also--they are older than dinosaurs (240ish million years ago):
"Conifers ['cone-bearers'] first appear in the fossil record over 300 million years ago." 
But not as old as ferns (360 million years ago).
(Wikipedia: conifers.)

Below, left: Linda Sue had posted this botanical diagram I'll use as my inspiration... 
Below right: Pine cone cross-section from Pacific Science Center

 I want to get back to printing FOR FUN. I haven't carved a lino print I've been happy with in a year--I kind of lost my confidence. Possibly this is too exacting? We shall see... 

More cool images: vintage pine cone botanical drawings

_______________

II. Another anecdote about the power of "making little things from yarn":

Back in the 1970s when Ram Dass was giving a far-out lecture to a bunch of young tripsters, he noticed an older woman in the audience wearing sturdy thick-heeled shoes, a skirt and jacket, and a hat with fruits around the brim. 

She sat there nodding to everything Ram Dass was saying. He was fascinated, wondering what she was doing in this crowd. At the end of the lecture he smiled to invite her to approach.

When she got to Ram Dass she said, “That was just marvelous, and I know exactly what you mean.” 

Ram Dass replied, "How do you know all that?” 

She said, “I crochet.”

~ Becoming Nobody: Everyone's busy being somebody, Ram Dass, documentary film by Jamie Catto, 2019

_______________

Do people crochet pine cones?
OF COURSE.  Instructions on youTube 

 

____________ 

It's Veteran's Day. 
NPR reposted an article about photographer Platon: 
"In 'Service,' A Celebrated Photographer Turns His Lens On U.S. Troops" (2016) 

ABOVE: (From left) Command Sgt. Maj. Gabriel Cervantes and Col. Burt Thompson of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, with Interpreter John Mardo. 2008. 
(Center) Pfc. Casey Long of the Tennessee Army National Guard. 2008. 
(Right) Sgt. Tim Johannsen and his wife, Jacquelyne Kay, at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where Johannsen spent 2 1/2 years after losing his legs on his second tour in Iraq. 2008.
Courtesy of Platon