

Back in 1966, shortly after my wise old grandmother had adopted me, I asked her if I could have a small plot of land for a garden. She had the most beautiful gardens in all of Kingsville, Texas. Something was always growing and blooming — morning glories, Christmas cactus, poinsettias, oleanders, nandinas, ligustrums, roses….. and that’s just the stuff planted in the ground. Her hanging gardens were second only to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
She said, “Yes,” and gave me the hottest spot in her yard, right around the air conditioning compressor. Air conditioning compressors put out a lot of hot wind, and she never got anything nice to grow there.
Enter Russel Ray Kirk Jones Kirk, the 11-year-old juvenile delinquent from Utah.
A friend, Richard Schmidt (whom I would love to find some day!), had a garden in his yard, and he introduced me to cactus and succulents. He and his parents took me down to McAllen, Texas, one Saturday to a cactus nursery. I came home with a box full of cactus and succulents. Those plants loved it in the hot sun by the hot, windy air conditioner, and soon I had cactus flowers and succulents blooming right along side my wise old grandmother’s beautiful flowers.
By the time I graduated from high school, my friends were calling me the Cactus Man. When I dropped my “Kirk Jones Kirk” last names and simply became Russel Ray, I also switched from cactus to succulents. Many of my friends now know me as the Succulent Man. Succulents are my speciality.
Yesterday I went for my annual summer visit of the San Diego Botanic Garden:

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I found my long-lost relatives, the succulent people:


















Look at that last picture, at the lady’s chest, and you can see a necklace, a broach, and two boobs created by the succulents. Don’t believe me? Proof:


Vision, people, vision! Use your creativity, just like the succulent people creators did! 🙂
I also loved her dress:


The San Diego Botanic Garden is where the Sapphire Tower is, and there were several blooming yesterday.



Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray (that’s me!)

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