On The Great Cactus Totem

     Some biological wizardry has been taking place in our backyard lately. But first I should give the reader a sense of our lot so that this story will make sense. The lot is more than 200 feet long, and the parts closest to the house, front and back, we keep up. The way back, on the other hand, is more like an urban wilderness. We keep it cut down for safety and esthetic purposes, but don’t pay it much more attention. Some twenty years ago someone gave us an agave’ cactus which we promptly planted in the back area, out of our line of vision, and then proceeded to forget about. Now and again we would trek into the back of the yard and notice that the cactus seemed to be holding its own, actually a bit more than that. It was beginning to take up a lot of space and seemed somewhat threatening as it sported some pretty sharp spines. Fortunately it was a good distance from our activities.

Ten feet across...and seven feet tall
    
A few months ago I checked the cactus out, only to find that it had grown to ten feet across and easily seven feet tall. This oversight, I decided, could only be called “inattention to detail.” After this we all started paying attention to it, and like all things that are noticed, it responded. Within weeks it had sent up a stem that was eight inches in diameter and forty feet tall. It was astounding! I took to calling it the Great Cactus Totem, and it would actually have looked like a thing to be worshipped if the stem had not looked so much like a humongous asparagus spear. Well, now all eyes were on the giant cactus. It was definitely no longer out of the line of sight but right in front of us as we looked out our deck windows.

It bit me
    
Finally the stem stopped growing and started to unfurl very slowly, one patch at a time. We took to making up stories about what would come from it…small aliens perhaps, or maybe one, massive, all-consuming blossom. At last we could see the cactus’ intentions. At the top ten feet of the stem, small, alternating arms-like protrusions began to extend themselves, some two feet long. At the end of each arm, a series of relatively tiny, white blossoms began to erupt. The very tip of the stem is still making up its mind, but I think it will culminate in one or two vertical thrusts of tiny blossoms. As a small person I have found this whole adventure in succulence quite daunting, and I’m a little afraid to get too close to the thing. (I actually did come a little too close once, and it bit me!)

Some things are simply worth the wait
     
           Whenever I can I like to give meanings to things that occur, especially in the world of nature where growth and outcomes left alone can be quite exotic, as the cactus totem demonstrates. What comes to me easily, effortlessly and with a little smile as I watch our evolving giant in the backyard is…some things are simply worth the wait.