I spent the afternoon picking cactus spines out of my daughters foot and backside, I was struck how much her foot looked like a porcupine, and how beautiful the cactus spines were. They were long, fading: brown to orange to yellow. She is tough and brave, no complaints on her part, she knows the risk of playing barefoot. I was grateful it was a cactus and not a rattle snake.
Here is a haiku I wrote about the event:
Barefoot game. Hide. Seek.
Prickly Pear under my foot.
Ouch! Sat on one more.