When I was a kid, we used to go visit an older couple that lived in rural Nebraska named Joe and Dorothy Bowman. I loved to visit them. Not only were they wonderful, kind folks, but their little ranch was a fun place to be. They raised birds. Not little birds, but peacocks and other crazy-feathered birds. Joe always gave us a tour, telling us about the birds and helping us gather up feathers. They also had cattle, and during my cow-obsession phase, I was allowed to wander into one of their fields and snap some photos of a calf. They had a sun porch that was loaded with cactus and other plants.
I don't know if it was the Bowman place that got me interested in cactii, but during one visit, Dorothy loaded me up with cuttings from her plants. One of these she said was a peanut cactus, but her pots looked like massive heads of dreadlocks that grew to the floor. I was excited to get a start of it.
Fifteen years later, I still have a couple of pots of peanut cactii, though mine are not nearly as glorious as hers. Not having an all-season, sunny room to keep them in, the abuse from moving them twice a year keeps them from growing so long. Yesterday, I walked out onto our back porch and caught a glimpse of a rich red-orange. To my utter amazement, these plants that have been just a bunch of little fuzzy-green fingers for years on end had put out several beautiful blossoms!
I guess sometimes, God prepares the most wonderful things to be reavealed in the most unexpected of places.
2 comments:
Certainly a God that know how many hairs are on a head and each sparrow's whereabouts, delights in small delights and surprises to His own!
One would think that a 15 year old cactus blooming for the first time with such BEAUTIFUL flowers would be a "sign" of some sort... exactly of what however, I do not know :-)
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