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February 06, 2007
Cloud of Down
“A stand of cattails, brown heads erupting seed, silk tufts unfolding from coarse velvet. I stopped and studied them.” Andrew Hudgins
Yesterday I experienced the fascination with what Andrew Hudgins describes as "the silk tufts" and "coarse velvet". On Jacob’s dresser I have an arrangement dried flowers: a good mesh of sharp and soft. One of the flowers in the arrangement was a cattail. Now, that cattail has been there for over a year, offering a sort of earthy beauty to what one (and I'm referring to my mom here) might call a wild and discardable display. The cattail didn’t majestically swoop or gracefully wind like the other flowers, but it was solid; a constant that I had grown quite fond of. As usual I was rushing around looking for something before running out the door(more specifically, I was looking for my favorite pair of Jacob's socks, I prefer to wear them for dancing cause they're really cushy). Anyway, as I approached his dresser my eyes widened in horror. The dresser was covered, in cloud of down. What? Had the cattail unraveled? Exploded? I have no idea how it had happened. My horror quickly turned to acceptance, which turned to amusement. I'm glad the cattail went out with a bang. Here are some pictures. I think they look quite ethereal.
My only regret was that I didn't take more pictures while trying to move the cattail outside...if you'll notice, only a tiny part had unraveled when I took the first few pictures, but by the time I had carried it out, the entire thing had unfurled. I looked like a big stick of cotton candy.
| By Heidi V. | 11:01 AM
Comments
I love cattails. I used to make them explode when I was young by tearing them apart and tossing the fluff in the air. The amount of fluff from your cattail though is much more spectacular. I think I picked them too early. Holding a cattail and running your finger along it is like feeling a really tightly, hand-woven rug.
Posted by: Neil E. Das at February 6, 2007 12:11 PM
Tightly, hand-woven rug. How true.
Posted by: Heidi Vincent at February 6, 2007 12:12 PM
Oh my goodness, I didn't know cattails had the abilitly to explode.
I love the cattails that grow near Uncle Phil and Uncle Dan's pond. Sadly, a Beaver tribe has demolished these amazing plants. Wish I could have seen them explode. There were hundreds.
Posted by: Laura at February 6, 2007 01:18 PM
Sure do!
Posted by: Heidi Vincent at February 6, 2007 02:35 PM