Thistles in Paradise

I woke up this morning to find someone had sown this nasty-looking thing in our front yard. It even has its own drip irrigation device!

I was reminded of multiple episodes in my childhood when my father would drop Gerry and me off at Grandpa Mueller's farm on the outskirts of Hustisford WI to harvest the crop of thistles that came up every spring. My guess nowadays is that they couldn't afford baby-sitters in those days. We wore thick gloves to protect our hands. They seemed gigantic but then I guess we were smaller in those days.