Thistle, Rain, Christmas Trees

1. A monstrous thistle was growing right in the middle of the horse pasture. The foliage is scary and prehistoric, but the thistle flowers are so beautiful. If we were to have a family crest, I would have a thistle on mine.
2. After a blistering, sweltering week, the rain has come and I count on the promise of cooler weather to follow.
3. Walking past the Christmas tree farm, I think about how soon it will be that we are choosing a tree! I like to imagine the cold day that will be while I endure this heat and humidity.

*In the language of flowers, the thistle (like the burr) is an ancient Celtic symbol of nobility of character as well as of birth, for the wounding or provocation of a thistle yields punishment. For this reason the thistle is the symbol of the Order of the Thistle, a high chivalric order of Scotland.