Spot the Frippet: tendril.

Here’s a gentle word to ease us into the working week...

...tendril...

...it has an echo of tender, doesn't it, and tenderly is how we all need to be treated on a Monday morning.

Tendrils are, luckily, all over the place. You can find them on climbing plants – peas, or some pitcher plants:

They can be slightly sinister:

photo by Eric Kilby

and I'm afraid the tendrils of parasitic cuscuta plants:

photo by Michael Becker

have a sense of smell, so they can sniff out their prey - but, all the same, you can't deny that tendrils are elegant things:

photo by Hamed Saber

If you live in a mighty concrete city then there will still be tendrils around you. Look at the ears of young ladies and admire the way wisps of hair curls into spirals around them. Or, indeed, look at the ears of the young men, if you can find any with enough hair.

If you live in a mighty concrete city where everyone has their hair covered then I can only advise finding someone smoking a cigarette: the chances are the tendrils of rising smoke will be the only completely beautiful thing about them.

photo by THOR

Spot the Frippet: tendril. This word comes from the Old French tendron, tendril or bud, from the Latin tendō, tendon, from tendere, to stretch.