Nexus

Yesterday, I completed the removal of the old, dead cactus from the yard I grew up in. The trunk, measuring about a foot and a half wide, was all dead - all the way through. I let the embers of a small fire do the majority of the work and kicked it over yesterday; it was close to the fence and was an eyesore. Plus, it bothered me that I never finished it - I had worried the cactus over the last year, pulling down the dead parts of it piece by piece and then working my way down the stump with axe and cutlass.

It was such a good place to relieve stress. I suppose I'll have to dust off the heavy bag downstairs again.

But what I had found months ago were two young plants of the same cactus. One I gave to a neighbor. One I planted in the center of the area where the elder cactus was too close to the fence, and it stands almost 3 feet tall today. I expect that over the years, long after I leave here, it will grow into a great cactus as its parent once was - and less hindered by the fence and surrounding walls. It will dominate that corner of the yard. That, somehow, is important to me.