Evening Stretch

An evening stretch sets the tone as a nocturnal world awakens.  A night-blooming cactus flower slowly unfurls its petals in the setting sun.  I suppose it makes them beautiful in their rarity, but has always seemed a shame to me that these only bloom at night, closing shortly after dawn, and only for one or two nights before they fade.  But the sight of an enormous columnar cactus covered in rafts of these six-inch, cream-colored blossoms and shining in the bright light of a desert full moon is certainly breathtaking.