Prickly Pear

LifeScapes 11, August 2024

While humanity may be waiting for the next catastrophe to come upon us; the prickly pear is busy ensuring that it will live on without humanity, marching across the globe, prepared to live forever.—Humanities for the Environment

It’s been hot as the devil in the Texas Hill Country—up to 105 on our shaded front porch, with a feels-like temperature of 109. The sky is a brilliant blue, not a wisp of a cloud from horizon to horizon. The heat wrings the moisture out of the soil, and leaves begin wilting before noon. So do I, if I venture out. I’ll stay in with a book, thank you, and admire the plants that are tough enough to thrive in what is shaping up to be the planet’s hottest year on record.

Like this tough guy. Opuntia. The prickly pear cactus, our Texas State Plant. Skilled at both offence and defense, it is fierce as they come.

There’s a story here . . .