The bees on this Sour Pitaya bloom evidently find the nectar sweet. I found the flower to be one of the day’s “secret glories” (the poet E. E. Cummings’ term) as we biked on the Quail Trail.
The Sour Pitaya or Pitaya Agria cactus is a cousin to the organ pipe, which also grows in Baja California Sur, and is rather thorny and forbidding until it blooms. According to Norman C. Roberts’ Baja California Plant Field Guide, the blooms “open for a single night and close by mid-morning.” It’s a good thing we bike early in the day.
Because a friend’s bike chain required repair, I also had time to take a look at this little mammillaria cactus
and to admire the tiny yellow blooms of this ubiquitous low growing desert plant, name unknown.
Ordinary sights, maybe, but miraculous enough for me.
WRITING PRACTICE:
What secret glories did you see yesterday or today?
What reminds you of the miraculous aspects of our lives?
Practicing Wonder 
Dearest Chris, your “secret glories” post was a genuine breath of fresh air for me…so timely & welcomed! I’ve been in bed the past week with bronchitis and feeling very un-glorious. Though it has given me the opportunity to marvel in the miracle of my very breath – and to be grateful for its normal ease. Like the desert flowers, we are apt not to notice them unless we take the time to look. Thanks for the reminder!
Hi, Anne–I really hope you’re feeling better today and are well on your way to complete recovery. It’s so like you to consider that our every breath is a gift!
Thanks, Chris, I’m UP today!