Has it been that long since I posted anything here? Not that we haven't had anything interesting happening, what with the Deep Freeze and yet another trip - by commercial air - to visit relatives in Louisiana.

It was during a geological field trip to central Texas that I first met the cactus that was to be my companion for so many years. We had stopped after crossing the San Saba River (not a bridge, just a cement-lined shallow ford where the water was a couple of inches deep ordinarily), and while walking about I spotted a small cactus that had fallen from a patch located on an elevated section alongside the road. Carefully, I gathered up some local dirt and planted it in a styrofoam cup; it proved to be a feisty li'l thing, for no sooner had I brought it inside the bus but it promptly speared me a posteriori through my jeans. In any case, I took it home and it proceeded to follow me about from one place to another, usually taking on the role of an inside plant, though it did not seem to be growing to any extant. Twice it set out a huge purple flower, but after that it did not repeat the experiment. At some point I decided to return it to being an outside plant, and it promptly began to sprout additional arms until it resembled some dire alien sex implement. This past winter perhaps was too much for the cactus, as the temperature dropped below freezing and stayed there not for hours (which happens down here on the Mud Flats), but for days at a time. As a possible result, the arms began to look like partially-deflated balloons. Last Thursday, during a nice-weather afternoon during which I went about trimming back dead stuff and looking for signs of life, I decided to clip off one of the more obviously ruined arms, whereupon my nose was assaulted by a vile aroma, and my eyes by the sight of what can only be described as green mucous. I ended by trimming all six arms with the same results, hoping the core was still intact. ALAS, such was not the case, and last Sunday I wound up tipping the entire contents of the flower pot into the compost to join the arms already sent there.

The Spirit of San Saba (1988-2018) - you had a good run, and for half of my life (30 years) you were a faithful friend. Rest in peace. ;____;

I thought I had an earlier photo of San Saba posted here but apparently not. Here is a more recent one: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/25241561/