Massive house fire breaks Shoreview blogger’s 12-year streak of posting nature photos

“After 4,660 days, the chain has been broken,” Shoreview photographer Mary Jo Hoffman recently shared with fans of her blog, Still, where she has posted one nature composition each day for 12 years.

A dramatic photo explained the reason: her family’s home engulfed in flames, taken just over a week ago.

No one was hurt in the devastating fire, which significantly damaged the artsy, airy home Hoffman shared with her husband, Steve, their children and dog. The couple shared that they don’t yet know the cause and plan to rebuild. But between two new books to promote, and Hoffman’s camera equipment and nature collections being destroyed, she’s taking a break from Still.

Hoffman wrote that it’s been difficult to pause her daily practice, which often took place in her home and yard. She’d head out back and fill a basket with maidenhair ferns and bright-red baneberries, orange lilies and cattail stalks. Then go inside and arrange her finds on a white board for a photograph. Hoffman also lost all the dried material she’d squirreled away for future compositions, such as pressed leaves, a nest, and a fish skull.

Hoffman hopes to resume Still by Jan. 1, 2025, with her compositions on a black background.