This poor cactus doesn’t know when to put on its show. Sometimes it hits for Halloween, sometimes it waits until Thanksgiving, and once in a while it’ll do a brief reprise around Easter. It’s never managed Christmas, which is fine; there’s too much else going on at that time. I’d rather it be spaced as it is. Maybe that’s why it’s in bloom now – to avoid the rush and bluster and risk of getting lost in the shuffle. I admire such planning and foresight.
Its blooming cycle is dependent upon how many hours of daylight there hour, and since it’s located in an unused storage room (or former work-out room back in the days when I could feign working out), where it gets no artificial light, it’s been pretty reliable. Just not reliable enough to schedule a holiday around it. Halloween is a far cry from Thanksgiving, and I’m giving thanks for that because no one is near ready.
Personally, I like its reliance on a general timeframe, as well as its refusal to adhere to a strict schedule. I’m that way too – I love structure and schedules, but I like room within them to move about freely. Contained chaos. Controlled craziness. The lessons of a cactus. (I’ve already got the prickly part down pat.)
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