I just realized that it's not fair to mention something and then not to show it. We know the photo is not the best, but you can at least see how the flowers edge these strange cones. T. Tex is right, I do not want to get tangled with these. You may have guessed from the previous/coming image that these are big. I was standing straight when I snapped the "paddles" which were hanging over my head... OK, I had to lean into the plant area a little bit. BUT we are talking non-household-variety cactiseesses (many of them). Labor Day has come and gone -- sigh. That means I get to "share the road" with yellow busses full of screaming Herberts -- or get up earlier to avoid them. It was nice while it lasted; just a leisurely drive down the gridlocked parkway to Dilbertland where reality really is the "funny papers". My favorite commute music is KONVOI from the soundtrack of Das Boot: the pounding pace as they stalk the convoy and I roll along just a tad over the speed limit. Then we have the music slowing down just about the time that traffic slows down so everyone can watch some knucklehead get pulled over to get a ticket. Sigh, the scenery never changes. Enjoy; thanks for viewing.