the first thing that came to mind when i saw this cattail fluff was carded wool, which i have no personal history with, but which ends up having a very offbeat personal connection. the word “carding”  means to comb the fibers of wool or cotton so they all align in the same direction before spinning into yarn or thread. carding comes from the latin word carduus, and, stay with me here, carduus means teasel, which is a wild thistle originally used to card or comb these fibers. the teasel is native to, among other places, southern france, where i picked one back in 2010 and took a close up picture of it against a white background, which remains one of my favorite images, and which, in many ways, was the very first seed from which still blog sprouted. the word thistle, in french, is “chardon,”  which clearly is a direct descendant of the word carduus, and that, my friends, is how the latin word for a mediterranean thistle, leads inexorably to a nature blog by a minnesota girl in the year 2014. Q.E.D.

november cattail

sucker lake regional trail, saint paul, minnesota