Despite my benign neglect, my Christmas cactus surprised me by pushing out a single bloom just in time for Christmas. Some words of the beloved carol “Lo How a Rose E’er Blooming” come to mind when I contemplate its beauty—”It came, a flow’ret bright, amid the cold of winter, when half spent was the night.”
Merry Christmas to all of my friends and family who are celebrating this blessed holy day.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Merry Christmas Mike.. what a wonderful surprise from the cactus .. it *does* look very Christmassy! Had no idea a cactus could be so festive!
Merry Christmas Mike. Thanks for staying connected.
Thanks, Chris. Merry Christmas to you, Wade, and Bengie.
Merry Christmas! Have a good one 🙂
Merry Christmas Mike. Our cactus is also blooming (it’s a white one)
Nice. I know there is a whole process to follow to get the cactus to bloom, but I am lucky if I remember to water it from time to time. Merry Christmas to you.
Perfect – the flower seems to be wearing a Santa hat too! Merry Christmas!
That is my absolute favorite Christmas song. I always sing along with the alto line, shades of when I learned it in the Gaithersburg community chorus back in the 90s.
This image looks unreal, the colors too bright to be natural. Nature can still surprise us. Merry Christmas!
Thanks, Nina. I know the bass part–all we need now is a tenor and a soprano. I may have punched up the colors a bit much as I tried to get the background to look white. My walls are off-white in color. Still, the pinks and red of the one bloom are pretty vivid in real life.
That looks like a watercolor, did you use special filters on your camera? It is a very beautiful image. You could use it for Christmas Cards next year.
Merry Christmas to you! Have a wonderful New Year!!!!!! Blessings!
I played around a little with the image to try to make the background whiter (my walls are off-white and the lighting was uneven). I think I may have also increased the saturation a bit too, though it was not any special filter. Merry Christmas to you too. We have a few snowflakes coming down right this minute, so technically it is a white Christmas for me, though I don’t think we will have any noticeable accumulation.
Happy happy day😊
Thanks, Louella, and the same to you! 🙂
How lovely. Happy Christmas, Mike. x
Thanks, Patricia. Merry Christmas to you.
Hope yours was merry, Mike!
Thanks, Eliza. I am stuffed with food and feeling content. I did video chats and phone calls and attended virtual church in the morning and the evening. I can’t say that Christmas was exactly merry, Eliza, but it was definitely meaningful. 🙂
From home to home, and heart to heart, from one place to another. The warmth and joy of Christmas, brings us closer to each other. ~ Emily Matthews
Have a wonderful Christmas and joyous days ahead with warm laughter. Take care.