Donkeys And Thistle

The donkeys love thistle as much as the goldfinches.  But while the goldfinches peck at the seeds, spreading as many as they eat, the donkeys are more destructive.  They eat the whole plant almost down to the ground.

The donkeys lips feel so soft and tender to me, I always wonder how they eat those long spiny thorns without hurting themselves.

When Wendy sent me this postcard a few years ago I didn’t make the connection between it and our donkey’s eating thistle.   It’s hanging in my studio and the last time I saw Lulu munching on a thistle plant the image on the postcard popped into my head.

The illustration is from the late 1800s, Chardon is the French word for Thistle.

I have a Wonder Woman action figure on the kitchen windowsill.  She’s holding a hat pin in one of her curled fists, which I put there.

When Jon’s granddaughter, Robin, was visiting a few years ago, she asked why Wonder Woman had the “pin” in her hand.  I think I told her it was a weapon.

But I didn’t tell her about the stories I’ve read about women protecting themselves with their hat pins.  I read that actor George Raft was stabbed with a hat pin that narrowly missed his heart.

And there, in the postcard is  Cardon, pointing one of her long spines at the donkeys dressed as a gentleman, holding up his hoof as if he means her no harm.

But I have my doubts.