My right arm has really been taking a beating lately.
Two days ago I was moving my tree cholla pot and a piece of old cactus stuck itself to my fingers. I didn’t know how to get it off because touching it with my other hand stuck it into that hand. I ended up wrapping it with a rag to pull it off. Pulling the individual spines out really hurt. They’re barbed, for gosh sakes! During some research on the plant (Opuntia imbricata, for the memory archive), I found THIS story about about a relative of my cactus. It’s kind of a funny story, but there’s a disturbing picture of a dead kangaroo rat stuck on a cactus at the end. Fair warning.
Anyway, later that day, I was taking some Bisquick biscuits out of the oven and branded myself on the inside of my elbow. I wasn’t as upset about the pain as I was about how stupid it was that I touched a blazing hot cookie sheet to my arm. Sheesh!
And then yesterday, I was helping a co-worker load a moving truck, and as I shifted the her couch in my grip, the lower edge of it dragged across my forearm. I knew I had torn my skin on a staple or something. Instead of saying “Ouch!”, I said: “Dang it!”. I’m not sure my arm can take much more abuse.
The cholla stabs were just above my fingernails. You can’t see them in the picture. The other two wounds are readily visible.
I need to include two things in the memory archive:
Thing one – Yesterday my lotus finally bloomed. I’m not sure I like the flower form. I may be shopping for a new lotus next spring.
Thing two – I met another neighbor. She lives at the house with the Arnudo grass in the front. She called it “the stuff that looks like corn” 🙂 Her name is Cheryl. Her husband is Gary. They have a lot of bamboo in their back yard.
I went on a hummer ride in the desert outside of Phoenix a couple of years ago, and we saw those cholla cacti. Killer cacti, for real. So my first reaction to the word cholla connected with your arm was that belly-fear. I understand now that yours is domestic. But please don’t get a cholla spine in your stomach.
It’s actually quite a fascinating reproductive adaptation. little animals like the kangaroo rat (and larger ones like ourselves) have lots of fabulous water. So the cactus kills the little rat (hopefully not us!), and has a little water to get started on a new cute teddy bear cactus. voila. At the base of each of those things is a dead critter.
*jibblie* There is no way on this planet that I am reading an article about plants that kill. I’ve just become sort-of accepting of plants – I don’t need to fear them!
Sorry about your arm, but remember: Pain is temporary, and chicks dig scars.
Don’t visit UCR then. From the article:
“the University of California Riverside keeps a collection of creatures that have died after getting stuck on cholla, from mice to Cooper’s Hawks.”
You don’t need to worry about my cholla though. The article is about Opuntia bigelovii, otherwise known as Jumping Cholla or Teddy Bear Cholla. Aww… such a cute name.
lalalalalalala….we can’t hear you…lallalalala….
Random thoughts about this morning’s posts:
* If you’re going to have a killer plant in your garden at all, why not a huge pitcher or Venus fly trap while you’re at it? At least then there should be no remains when the plant is through…
* Ah, Bisquick! Another reason we no longer have a box of that in our cupboard…
* I’m sure you have a typo above – shouldn’t that read, “Dnag it!”?
* Poor lotus blossom: it takes so long to bloom, and then its person is ungrateful for the irregularity of its petals, which undoubtedly makes it unique from all other blossoms somehow. Ingrate!
* Now if someone gives you, say, a panda as a gift, you can leave it in Cheryl and Gary’s yard for free snacks. How fortuitous! But seriously, it’s usually fun to meet new neighbors, isn’t it? So long as she isn’t thin and wearing a long black dress, and he has a handlebar moustache, kisses her along the arm, calls her “Morticia”, and tells her how much he loves it when she speaks French. (But, then, they had some unusual plants, too…)
* What?! No mention of unloading rocks from the truck for the pond yesterday afternoon after moving furniture all morning? [Are you having lapsi memoriae already?! You’re too young for that, aren’t you?]
I didn’t unload all the rocks. I weeded and dug to get the area ready for the rocks, then was too tired. I’m also having trouble deciding whether to use some kind of underlayment or not.
Brad–that pink flower is BEAUTIFUL!! Has the pain of all your wounds messed with your eyesight?
Glad you’re on the mend!!