On the ranch where I live, there are A LOT of cactus. Tons and tons of green, prickly cactus all over the place. They’re kind of ugly to me, except for in the spring, because then they have the most beautiful flowers. Most of them are yellow or purple, and the landscape looks like a colorful, polka dotted painting when they bloom.

There’s one certain kind of cactus that’s really special, though. It’s a tiny gray cactus that looks hairy and soft, and it has the most beautiful flower of all. It’s bright pink and velvety soft – one of the most gorgeous flowers you could imagine. But there’s a catch. Each cactus only blooms for one day out of the whole entire year. Actually, it’s more like a few hours. As quickly as the beautiful flowers pop up, they’re wilted and gone just as soon. If you get to behold one, it’s pretty rare and special.

Lucky for me, one of these cactus is right next to our gate, so I pass by it on my walk to the mailbox every day, which means I have a pretty good chance of witnessing this splendid sight. This year I got to take pictures of it and enjoy it for a good while. I stood there just staring at it, watching the bees fly in and out of the flowers, smiling at its simple yet profound elegance, all the while knowing that it would be gone in the blink of an eye.