Surprise

It's hot again here in California. Hot enough that you don't really want to do anything but lay around, nap and sip cold beer at the seaside. It's not miserable hot, just lethargy hot. So while wandering the backyard, making sure the plants are not wilting, I noticed this blossom on a succulent I thought was a goner. I don't pay much attention to the succulents I've collected over the years. They used to be forefront of my attention when I lived in the city and had a citified back porch garden. Now there remains just a few that I keep outside the studio door, ones that were gifts from friends who knew my weakness for that sage blue of the cactus, the way they turn red at the edges when they get plenty of summer sun.

In my journey south this past week, some friends directed me to a garden located in Encinitas, just north of the gallery where I'd be showing. It is called the Self Realization Fellowship Meditation Garden. What I noticed most there were the fabulous cactus blooms. I don't know if it was the heatwave we had last month or we just happened to be there at the right time but some of the blooms were just amazing. It really made the whole trip.

Okay... so my little bloom does come near comparing to what I saw on Thursday, but you have to admit that the color is extraordinary. Perhaps it has just triggered the sensation I had when coming up the garden path on the cliffs and bumping in to one of these spectacular blooms, a piece of the garden on my own back stoop.