Maybe it was on an early morning browse through a cactus garden that Fibonacci discovered the pattern in nature that will keep mathematicians and botanists talking about him forever. Maybe he stooped to look at the rows of water diamonds on the otherwise forbidding thorns... and his "AHA!" moment thrilled him as I was thrilled this morning when I discovered how cacti quench their thirst in the desert. You'll definitely want to click on these images to see them larger.


VALENTINE'S DAY, 2010

I am remembering today
the time when I could take my place
among children without being noticed
because I was a child myself...

Remembering the packets of cards,
more colorful than life itself,
bought at the five and dime
and signing them one by one...

Deciding who should get which,
and deciding what to write
on the teacher’s card so she might
guess but not know for sure that
I was in love with her.