[Tidbits] The Bejeweled Cactus

The Bejeweled Cactus
Sender: owner-orchid@ganoksin.com
Precedence: bulk

Why oh why…you may all well ask…why oh why would anyone want to
create a Cactus Brooch out of enameled gold and diamonds and rubies?
After all…how many of you have seen a lady fair wearing a cactus on
her blouse? Nary a one I would venture. And yet…in Paris…sometime
around the 1940’s…an unknown jeweler following in the path of the
surrealists of his day…created just such a delicate ornament for his
mademoiselles. Of course mes amis…I scanned this piece for you all
to see. So…shall I continue with my little narrative…or should I
stop right here and let you all head straight for the graphic? By a
show of hands…who wants me to stop now?

Heh heh. Lucky I care not a wit for those of you with raised hands.
Though I am tempted…I must say…to end my refrain and leave the
balance of the page blank. It is with enormous effort that I do not
succumb to my compulsion…after all…the joke of it all is almost
worth the act. Alas…I can nots cheat me public. And so I go on.

Our artist…our jeweler…our sculptor…he has neither name nor
identity…we can only conjecture as to why he made this piece.
Perhaps he came from Mexico…where the Cacti ranked in economic
strength as an important food source for the country. Perhaps he once
suffered from an unknown illness with thirst as a major symptom.
Cooling drinks made from the fruits of some cacti were known to have
strong medicinal properties. Or perhaps he was a man who once lived
in Latin America and craved privacy above all things. You could have
women…you could have wine…you could have song. For our jeweler…
bliss might easily have consisted of a species of cactus thriving in
that region that lent itself well to forming a living and yet
impenetrable fence around one’s property.

Water for a thirsty man dying in the sun baked deserts you ask? It was
possible…if done properly. Here’s how. Dig a pit…put cut up cactus
stems in it with a cup in the center of the pile. Cover with an
inverted cone of plastic. Moisture in the cactus evaporates… rising
to the plastic and running down in rivulets along the cone shaped
material…slowly dripping off the point and filling the cup with
water. Perhaps our jeweler was once an adventurer and would have died
of thirst in hostile territory were it not for the cactus …and
so…in order to pay homage to the plant that saved his life …he
created his little doo-dad.

Well…there it is folks…all you ever wanted to know as to why a
jeweler would and did make a cactus brooch. Perhaps even more than
you ever wanted to know. Go fathom the intricacies and depths of the
problems presented on these pages. Who can figure? Not I. And so I
send you all to my home page…down the table menu…to Tidbit
Graphics…where you can click on the link that says…Cactus.

And there ya have it.
That’s it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark

All issues of Tidbits are copyrighted and available from our home page.
All rights reserved.