Cactus Blossom 1933

Every time I look at a beautiful, fragile cactus blossom I am reminded of this inscription we found on a small concrete slab almost seven years ago while we were hiking across a remote part of the desert in Joshua Tree National Park.

This slab of concrete and a small mine on the hill above it was the only evidence we could find that anyone else had walked or lived in this piece of the desert.  Dan and I just happened to stumble across it when we were searching for landmarks on our map that were once thriving mining camps.  If we had been hiking five feet on either side of this slab, we wouldn’t have even noticed it.  

When was the last time anyone had been here?  Maybe in 1933, eighty seven years ago....

We have seen inscriptions on concrete slabs similar to this in the desert at the entrance to deserted homesteads.  So we think that maybe a husband and wife and child (“M. & M.” & little “D.” written on the slab) tried to make a home at the base of that that secluded, harsh desert hillside.  And we believe that even though it was in the during the Great Depression, they were filled with hope and loved each other and this rugged home.  Why else would they name their home and mine something pretty like “Cactus Blossom?”

This little home was a moment in time.  Now all is blown away and covered in sand, except for their concrete slab with a date, initials, the Star of David, and the name “Cactus Blossom.”  

And this is why whenever I see a cactus flower I think of this desert home lost in time.  As beautiful as cactus flowers may be, they only blossom for a day or two.  And then they wither, fall to the ground, and are blown away.

This year the young cacti in our home garden put on their first show of flowers for us.  Each blossom nestled and protected in its bed of thorns and was spectacular!  

 

Next year our cacti will be more mature and beautiful.  I will be ready (with the fancy camera that Dan gave me as a gift) to catch the perfect moment of each cactus blossom before it is blown away and lost in time, like the Cactus Blossom homestead and mine.