My son recently asked me a question. He said: “Mom, why do you like cactus so much?” I thought about if for a moment and realized that I had become slightly obsessed with cacti (that is the plural form of the word “cactus” by the way, in case you were wondering. I checked online). I have cactus drawings decorating our living room wall and cactus pillows on our couches. I even got some cactus stickers for the wall (I may have a problem at this point). I am not sure at what point I started to really like these prickly plants, but I know that they have grown on me over time.

Last year, I went to a conference for work in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was very brown, and the air was very dry. The hotel that we stayed at had a garden full of different types of cacti and…