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Friday, March 30, 2007

Prickly heart



For PhotoFriday: Growth comes, sometimes, at the cost of a prickly heart.

9 comments:

Susanna said...

wow! that really does look like a heart.

Ed Maskevich said...

Or as my parents used to say, "every rose has its thorns." A prickly subject but you did it well, stick too it.

chris miller said...

A few months into this blog -- and I'm still puzzled why I'm enjoying it so much -- when if these photos were all together on a gallery wall -- I would find them exhausting-into-repellent -- because, let's face it, you go for *kick* or *punch* -- and all together, they would deliver quite a thorough beating.

Maybe that's the answer --- because they're not all together on a gallery wall -- but they're on a small, back-lit screen -- and I only get a new one every day --
as if I were following the course of your life -- day by day -- as you are seeing it -- your moods changing with the season and landscape (just like they do in Genji)

And in some way, the whole project reminds me of the (possibly fictional) Ionian tyrant who took a small amount of a different poison every day -- so that eventually he
became immune to everything. (even a prickly heart !)

Pedro said...

Opuntia Ficus-Indica.
We call them "piteiras" and, when they are ripe we love to eat the fruits, but one must be extremely carefull.
I will make a post about it.

Mauricio said...

Lori!!!

How are you?

wonderfull photo, always.

have a sweet weekend.

Marly Youmans said...

That Chris--he is wonderfully opinionated!

That reminds me of something I saw in St. John's that's witzellish: a prickly pear scratched with messages,surrounded by great bursts of flowers.

Lori Witzel said...

Hi there, my friends...a long work-week, and am dragging a bit, but was delighted y'all stopped by. Perhaps the rain will lift this weekend and I'll get out and about with camera and sketchpad again...

Anyhow.
Susangelique: Doesn't it though? It stopped me cold while I was out walking through a park, and then it stopped my knees cold as I bent around trying to get the cactus pad silhouetted against the pale grey light. Am so glad you visited!

Ed: I am just ever so thankful I'm no longer living in Arizona and using pliers to pluck jumping cholla spines from my tennis shoes. I like your pointed sense of humor, of course.

Chris: My goodness! Beatings?! Daily poison?!?
:-)
Well, the things I share and show are intended for this ephemeral medium, and for the surprise and sequential aspects of a daily post.

I agree -- were this simply a prep for a gallery showing, there would need to be an editing hand applied to give the viewer rhythm and respite. But the lovely thing about a blog (at least to me) is the element of "whatever will come next?", and the fact that those who come by have time to digest these evanescent pixels and/or click away to some other delight.

I am grateful that you do come back, because your comments are passionate and you care (and think deeply about) things I also care about.

Pedro: Oh, yes, I know about being careful when eating the fruits. I've gotten some prickly surprises! Did you know some of those opuntia fruits taste like strawberries, and some taste, at least to me, like vegetables (green beans)? I will see what you post!

Mauricio: Gracias! Oh, now I will have a sweet weekend. You do too!

Marly: Oooooh! I so would love to see that! One of the many things I enjoyed learning about these cactii -- the cochineal insect's dye, a common parasite on nopal, is a powerful royal purple and will stain just about anything.

Anonymous said...

But if you clean the spines off, you can eat that, right? (Yum, heart!)

Where do I sign up for the beatings?

Mise said...

It sure does, Lori.