Last year it didn't flower at all, so this year I guess I'll just think of the Christmas cactus as blooming nine months early. For some reason one of my three Christmas cacti suddenly decided to put forth four translucent pink blossoms worthy of the tropics. In the absence of crocus in my flower beds, I'll take these inside. Hanging by my front window, they make me smile each morning when I raise the blinds. I know that all too soon they'll dry up and drop off... and then it will be another year or two before I see more.

Ephemeral bloom--
for a moment I'm thinking
of warmer places.