Cerebrations

Cactus 101

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Gold Canyon, Arizona

Sophie and I took a little walk around the RV park yesterday, and I took pictures of the many different types of cacti growing here.

I have no idea of their names, so I’m going to make names up based on their appearance…

1. Mickey + Minnie — Notice the mouse shape on the right side.

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2. Anise Seed Pod — The anise seed pod often has seven ‘arms’ just like this cactus.

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3. Old Monkey Socks — These look exactly like a bunch of bleached out monkey sock dolls .

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4. Ruffles — Because it has both ridges and waves.

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5. Fat Wrinkles — I intend to get fatter as I get older because the fat will fill up my wrinkles.

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6. Frisbee Pancakes — These are flat and damn near Frisbee-sized.

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7. Artichoke — Looks ready to peel and dip into melted garlic butter.

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8. Spike’s Hair — Reminds me of a 1980’s hair cut with lots of Bed Head gel holding it all in place.

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9. Skinny Indian Paintbrush — Same colors as the wild flower, just skinnier.

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10. Sea Anemone — Saw some of these while snorkeling in Alaska but the real ones are way more colorful.

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11. Triceratops — Ever seen these dinosaurs’ scales?

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12. Morphing Octopus — Number of arms can vary from one to twelve.

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13. Sea Urchin — Same explanation as number 10.

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14. O’ Christmas Tree — Flowers gold and silver only during December.

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15. Arizona Skin — This is what all of Arizonians’ skin looks like because it’s so bloody dry here. And the red bumps are from prickly heat rash.

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16. Cactus Wren — The Cactus Wren is a very pretty bird and has lots of stripes and speckles. 
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17. What Are You Doing? — So named because the owner of this cactus came out and grilled me about why I was taking a picture of her home.

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19. Sheriff Woody — Each arm is “Reach(ing) for the Sky” as if told to do so in Toy Story.

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20. Faux Cactus — Made out of metal and artificially colored. Too perfect for nature.121114144921. Eiffel Tower — This is growing out of the roof of a park model. We drove by this for over a month before I noticed it. 
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 22. Who Are Their Fathers? — All the babies look suspiciously different from the mother…

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11 thoughts on “Cactus 101”

  1. Oh man, I so love this blog. Kathy, you totally crack me up. Each is named so perfectly. I actually LOL on this. Sure miss you.

    ILTB.

    1. Lorraine, I really was going to look up the names of each of the cacti, but I knew I’d never remember them. Seemed more efficient to just make up names that I might remember. 🙂

  2. Hi Kathy & Rich,
    Glad to get your Christmas card with your blog info…after reading this one, I think you need to apply to be a docent at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. I think “What Are You Doing” is my favorite. I’d love a video of that conversation. Fun to see what you two nomads are up to each day. Have a Merry Christmas (I’m sure you’ll be in shorts)!

  3. Tammy, There’s nothing like a bunch of retired people without enough to do. 🙂 At first I thought I might have to show her my phone as I was deleting the photo to prove that I deleted it. But once I explained the blog posting, she was fine. She even smiled. 🙂 Merry Christmas to y’all, too!

  5. Giggle. Such creative, descriptive names. I love it. We have a type down here with the name “cholla” cactus, but it is more commonly known as “jumping” cactus. Nasty stuff. Google it for images. It is best to avoid it…..

    1. Is it called the jumping cactus because out jumps at you, Joanne? When Sophie gets stuck, she just stops. Doesn’t whimper, doesn’t bark. Just stops and waits for us to rescue her. 🙂

      1. Just Googled cholla cactus. They are here, too, out on the trails in the wild. Somehow Sophie got one of these on her bum; she really froze with that one.

      2. Sophie is a smart dog to stop and not make it worse. Dan tried to pick a prickly pear cactus fruit and he was covered with those fine hard to see spines… ugh.

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