Black-Spined Prickly Pear

(last backsie?)

Proof that prickly pear cactus flowers don't all look the same . They're a marvel of nature: blooming in the early morning and withering by afternoon. Such a joy!

The cactus gets its name from the the long black spines (needles) protruding from the pads (nopal). This is probably the my favorite flower ever. Bonus bug!

It was my college roommate's birthday and we spoke over 2 hours.  She lives in New Jersey. That seems to be my average length of call to the east coast lately. As always, it was awesome to catch up.

I puttered around and went out for a little bit, boring stuff like picking up a prescription and stopping at the post office.  I don't collect stamps but there's a new issue I wanted to snag. Skateboards with designs created by Native American artists.

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My wife complained to me that our neighbor brings his  wife flowers and chocolates but I don't do anything like that....
So now I bring my neighbor flowers and chocolates.