The opened seed pod, overwintered, of a milkweed plant, Asclepias syriaca, in Sun Valley last week. © BCP 2011
Traipsing about in Sun Valley last week (Thursday, April 7, if memory serves, I came across an area of the field where there were countless milkweed plants, all with their pods exploded open.
For some reason, I couldn’t think of them solely as the fruiting bodies of the milkweed, Asclepias syriaca. The hardened exterior shell of the pods made me think of Wynken, Blynken and Nod, who sailed off one night in a wooden shoe.
Then I thought about it some more, and decided that the pod, with its silky seeds attached, would make the most beautiful, comfortable bed in the world for a mouse. Or for a Lilliputian.
Just looking at the soft silky strands made me want to lie down and drift away.
© BCP 2011
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