Black and Blue

As my long-winded and unasked-for explanation details, my camera suffered an accident. Osteoporosis and all that. (Photo credit for the above picture goes to the pleasant camera repair man.)

Still frail, my camera returned. That same day, I celebrated by taking pictures of the plant in our bathroom. Dave Petersen gave us a Christmas cactus as a wedding gift. It came from a plant that his parents had been given at their wedding. It's been sore abused in the last seven years, even spending two summers in my mom's garden (at my instruction, no less!) while we lived abroad in Buffalo. It never bloomed once. Go figure.

But look! Seven years of marriage not only brought us our very first car-home but also coaxed the cactus into blossoming. This is indeed a fortuitous year.