Margaret introduces Toril Fisher

Close-up of spun

case of caddisfly larva.

BC, Canada

Wikipedia photo

In the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, anything can happen. If we can imagine it, it is apt to show up in the Garden. Actual toads, perhaps, might welcome the critter I have chosen for today's poem, although it is usually considered fish food.

I remember my father telling us about this creature when we were youngsters learning how to fish in the streams of British Columbia.

Kalidescope Creek (sic)

by Toril Fisher

a simple caddisfly am I

and in this stream

I live and die

but in between

my birth and death

I work to keep

the stream alive

if such as I

in streams are seen

you’ll know the stream

has water clean

for feeding fish

and catching fish

the fish think we're

a tasty dish

 Kay Davies, Feburary 14, 2014

At the Imaginary Garden today, Margaret's series Artistic Interpretations brings us artist Toril Fisher, who has done some amazing things. I loved learning that she uses repurposed beehive lids on which to paint, emphasizing the fact that bees are dying worldwide, leaving us without pollinators so necessary to food production.

Toril's work shown at the Imaginary Garden, and others she is currently working, on will be on display and for sale at the Driftless Cafe in Viroqua, WI in May, 2014.

I am also impressed that she is donating a share of the money she earns from her paintings to the Xerces Society. "From the world's rarest butterflies, (to) caddisflies that live solely in one stream, to declining bumble bee populations, the Xerces Society is dedicated to protecting invertebrates and the ecosystems that depend on them."

Last but not least, who could fail to love an artist exhibiting in a place named "Driftless Cafe"?