A rain of white cotton

April 2013

A small park at Mosco, 2013.

We had a long drive between two tourist attractions in Moscow, so our driver needed a break for a cigarette.  We stopped at the side of the road and got out of the coach to stretch our legs and take some fresh air.  There was a small park with a concrete path, which was covered with white cotton. At first I thought it was snow, but then I realised it couldn't be snow as it was spring!  The cotton was light and soft. Most of it had collected along the sides of the path.  I wanted to step on it, but it floated away when I got near it.  My guide saw me so he showed me a trick that amused me and put his lighter to the cotton.

At first I tried to stop him as I was worried he would set the park on fire. But he knew what he was doing. The cotton burned with a small pretty flame, red in the centre, then yellow, and blue at the edges. It only lasted a few seconds since the cotton was not spread equally over the path and where there wasn't much, the fire went out. When he saw this, he pushed more into the fire with his foot. It didn't burn for long and the tiny flame looked harmless, but I thought it would be unwise to touch it.

My guide told me the cotton was part of the seed of a tree, but I forgot the name. I could only find it was called a poplar tree on the Internet.  So I still not sure the name of the tree.

On a windy day, you can see cotton blowing in the wind.  It looks more like driving rain than snow, although it's white. Great clouds of it are blown along.

I enjoyed seeing this while I was sitting in the coach, but when I was walking along the street, I had to cover my nose and mouth.  Some of the cotton bolls occasionally stuck on my head, my shoulders and clothes.  I wondered how long it would take before I was completely covered with cotton if I lay on the ground.