I was telling our son Owen that for many people, Easter marks the beginning of Spring.  That where we come from, the trees are turning green and the flowers are starting to grow.  Some tire of the endless Summer of Caracas, but seeing the tropical flora of our neighborhood gives me the same rush some of you are getting back home on these first warm days of Spring.

What I love about these dainty little rose colored flowers (whose names I tried to find and failed miserably) is that they grow on thorny stems sharp as barbed wire.  I love painting cacti because they are so beautiful and so fierce, like South America.  I wish I could have taken a better photo with our Canon T1i, but when I am out and about I carry a small, unassuming camera.  Because unlike these dangerous beauties, I am unarmed.