winter in august?

i just cut these cattails from beside my dock. they look like something i might have cut last winter, and stored in the corner of the basement for six months. nope. these are august cattails, over-wintered from last summer. wind whipped and battered by spring rains. drained of all color. with the sun shining on them, they looked like ghosts from winter past. these, too, are august cattails.

overwintered cattails (Typha)