my favourite cotton

Have you seen a cotton tree or a cotton fruit?

How boring can I be for loving cotton. Cotton anything. Another favourite thing.

I love cotton cloth. Give me a piece of small flowered, sweet coloured cotton cloth and it would make my day, making something out of it.  From small items to big items, if made from cotton, I would love it.  Maybe because I like natural things. Feeling that  natural is always best.

I love the cotton fruit. And of course the tree that bears them.  When the pods open  and you can see a burst of cotton, it is one of Allah's magical creations.  A tree usually bears fruit with flesh and pulp, right?  A fruit is mostly edible except for a few.  But a cotton tree is not for eating. It is for our physical comfort.  A fruit to use as a natural produce only. Strange right?  The kapok in the fruit is indeed exquisite. Super soft and fluffy like the clouds, feeling it in my hands only tells me nothing beats Allah's creations.  Try and see and compare with any made man material..  When you separate the kapok from the seeds, chaff or other woody parts, you get the most  soft white or beige kapok to make your pillows and mattresses.. All from this humble fruit no one gives a second look, except boring people like me.

I have a story to tell of kapok or cotton.  Some years back I was helping Kak Long Azlina with her engagement.  On a small budget we were preparing the 'hantaran' together and Alhamdulilah, all was well.  I went to her house in Mentakab by bus for the Majlis Meminang. All went well too.  Coming back to KL by bus again  the next day, Kak Long's mum gave me kapok as a token of thanks for helping them out.  It was in  a big rough bag. Big, big. She 'produced' it herself by hand from the cotton trees around their house.


I did not know how to carry the big bag and my overnight bag and my handbag when I am to disembark the public transports I was about to embark into  from Mentakab to home but  since I like cotton so much  and does not want to hurt their feelings, I braved it,  ignoring the second glances I got, and pretended  I  thought  nothing of  walking while dragging a huge bag of kapok from one station to another.

Finally I reached home, happy  and pleased I have so much cotton and  forgetting the embarrassment  along the way..  I made many pillows, around 8, big and small and still have some more in the cupboard. Chor my aunt, made one pillow for herself. Not easy filling up the cases and pushing  with wooden rods for the kapok to fit in snugly .

Many may not even bother with all this, or notice cotton trees  or find any pleasure in making pillow with kapok.

But texture wise, they are the best..