EASTERN PRICKLY PEAR

Eastern Prickly Pear cactus, Opunita humifusa THE STORY I found a patch of Prickly pear cactus growing on the top of a ridge in an open, barren, gravel patch. The bright yellow flowers are what caught my eye. They looked like the drawing a child would make of the Sun, the color of sunshine.  It was April 18, 2020 about 3-4 weeks into the quarantine for Coronavirus. Everyone, around the globe, was in a lockdown scenario. Many people had not ventured out of their houses for many days. All of Mollie"s favorite walking trails and parks had been closed down.  I found a park, more of an open, empty field with a sidewalk running through it. On one end of it there was a sign pointing to a nature area, but all I could see was a corridor running behind people's houses. One day I was bored and yearning for the woods so I decided to explore. It led me back to a meandering nature corridor that runs along a ridge for many miles.  Could it be a secret parkway, overgrown and wild, NOT closed down duri