Cattails

I love cattails. I have ever since I was a kid and I think I always will. We used to pull them from the sides of the several ponds we had growing up and would haul them home with us after a fishing trip. We would shave them, dry them and color them with crayons. It always seemed there was a clever new way to rediscover the cattail. Last week Adam brought home an armful when he and Jonathan went looking for his bobber that we had lost in the neighbor's pond the night before. Matthew was reeling in a monster when I took over and the line broke. The mondo fish got away with everything from the bobber on down. I was just glad it didn't get away with Matthew after watching him try to reel the fish in. That was a sight in itself. Anyway... the cattails have by lying around getting dryer. Yesterday I was outside burning the garbage when I heard Matthew laughing the most peculiar laugh. It was a laughter of discovery, delight, and mischief all in one. It really perked my interest. When I went to find the source of the giggles I realized he had discovered cattails for the very first time. DRY CATTAILS. I sat watching him play in the plumes of cotton that he was distributing EVERYWHERE and just smiled. I loved doing that as a kid. Such simple fun. The little walk down memory lane was complete with Matthew's dad hollering outside to keep the cattails away from the garage because he was getting fluff everywhere and making a whale of a mess. MY DAD HATED CATTAILS... for the very same reason. They were messy. The funny thing is, that's my favorite part. As long as I'm around our kids are welcome to string cattail fluff from here to kingdom come. Some messes are too fun to make to simply forsake.

P. S. Cattails tickle your nose like nothing I have ever experienced and a person has a heck of time trying to comb them off the ol' tongue.