Late Night Call

Late Night Call

Noel Laflin

9-20-20

Years ago, my friend Jim got a call from his mom late one night, and all she said was, “Come quick! The cactus is blooming!’  And off went Jim.  I went along for the ride as I had never seen a night blooming cactus before.

And although it’s been forty-plus years, I have never forgotten the excitement in his mother’s voice, nor any resistance in her son’s attitude when it came to dropping what he was doing, hop in his truck, and drive across town to witness such a simple spectacle – that of a magnificent flower opening at night.

Once I saw the massive bloom for myself, well, I understood why the call and why the response.

I can’t be one hundred percent certain, but it dawns on me now that the cereus that has been clinging to our front walkway wall these last several decades, throwing out night blooms every September  - and at this very moment is once again slowly preparing  for this evening’s one night show -  may have been a cutting from Jim’s mom.

The lover of night blooms is long gone from this Earth, and I lost track of her son decades ago too.  But if I knew where he was nowadays, I’d ring him up and simply say, “Come quick! Your mother’s cactus is blooming!” And I bet he’d show up.

Because sometimes, simple spectacles are worth the call as are long overdue reunions.