As a geriatric doctor, I have always been interested in the seasons of life, of our journey through time, and of looking for beauty in every stage, every age. I was walking through some open land outside of Taos,New Mexico with a life long dear friend, enjoying a lovely September afternoon. I came across a collection of thistles, no longer in bloom, now aged, dried out, wrinkled,in their very last phase before succumbing to the ravages of winter. They were a study in sturdy skeletal beauty, wearing the strangely elegant patina of aging.

Sony Alpha 7II, Sony G Master 85 mm f1.4 lens shot at f1.4, 1/1250th second, ISO 100