Oh, Ouch!

On my drive home yesterday this cactus caught my eye. I think it is the same variety that my brother, as a kid, once fell in at a friend's house. If memory serves, Jack (our friend) had to use pliers to pull out the thorns (are they called that on cacti?) that had impaled my brother's leg. Oh, ouch that must have been painful. I just remember not wanting to watch the procedure.

The other cactus shown is displaying signs of spring here in Tucson. The blooms on top look like tiny little pineapples all lined up. Interesting flora in this part of the country. I guess it is all about survival -- lack of water, hot sun and long days. The plants in Oregon would not survive a day under those conditions.

On a totally unrelated note, can someone please explain the formatting deal with blogger? Seems that the images have a mind of their own and their behavior clearly has nothing to do with the format I specify when creating an entry. Anyhow, seems that Mother Nature knows what she is doing when it comes to flora in the universe -- well, that and so many other things.