Way Cool! The century plant by our carport is off and running this spring. The stalk is shooting to the sky and soon, like fireworks on the 4th of July, it will bust out with it's mating finery. It's always such a display of beauty and strength when one blooms! Alas, of course, it is it's final huurah. Now, I've got to give God a thumbs up on this one. I mean, I'm not always so sure of a lot of his work. You know, like crooked mountain ranges and wiggly shore lines. And where did he come up with that taste for black olives or 99% of all wine? Or how about Chinese opera? But, generally, I'm willing to overlook some of those "less than perfect" works (even pizza with pineapple and anchovies) , I figure everyone's entitled to their little weird tastes, even God. But the idea he came up with on the agave was sheer genius. Just let it grow, and grow, and grow and get more and more beautiful and then with every ounce of energy in it bursts forth with a glorious display that seems to celebrate life and then dies. The question is, if he already had this gimmick in his bag of tricks before humans came on the scene, why didn't he use it on us? Why is the human dying process so damn ugly and nasty and, frankly, a lot of work? I know, I know, the Lord works in mysterious ways. Oh well!