The Circle Of Life

Holy cow!  Thank you so, so much for the outpouring of love shown on my giant cactus flower yesterday.  I'm sorry I'm not able to respond to everyone and thank you individually for your hearts, stars and comments but my time on the computer is really limited as I recover from this bout of bronchitis.  You made it fly to the top line of the pop page...which I am now going to refer to as the Spotlight from now on (maybe that's not as original as I thought).

I made the real spotlight 8 times in just under my first four years.  I know because it was always so thrilling that I tagged them.  Five were milestones, one was my 60th birthday and two were random birds.  If you were around in those days you might remember the thrill of someone telling you that you made the spotlight...and sometimes missing seeing it!

So, I mentioned yesterday that sensational flower would last one day.  This is the backside view 24 hours later.  Poof!  Gone.  I shot this view so you could see the two new buds beginning to grow.  The really good news is that they are at different stages so they won't bloom at the same time.  EDIT: After looking at the extra, I'm pretty sure I see a third one just beginning in the back: a little fuzz ball)

I put a slightly different view as an extra. It shows the actually cactus it popped out of and gives you a lot of perspective on the size of the flower compared to the size of the cactus.  It's a pretty amazing thing.  Please take a look.  I think you will really appreciate the magnificence of the flower even more.

I made reservations to fly to western New York (Buffalo area) from May 15-18. I really, really hate to fly, especially across the country but I decided that I really wanted to present the next Laura A. Cirrincione Education Scholarship at my alma mater (SUNY Fredonia) in person this year.  I first presented it in 2013.  It is awarded on a rotating basis to a senior majoring in elementary, secondary or music education who has demonstrated leadership and perseverance. The value of it has increased to $1000 for the student selected. I'm simply going to pay for extra caregivers instead of dragging a brother here.  That is turning out to not be worth the effort.

Since it's 12:30 am here, the sun has risen (or is that the Son has Risen) so Happy Easter to my Christian friends.