Southwest Savagery

It is just one life-threatening event after the next.

We almost drowned on I-10 on our way into town.

Getting crispy is an ordinary, daily danger.

But in Yuma, Arizona, Billy Mason almost got killed by a cactus. It fell on him. He was working on a leaky water main when somebody yelled, "Watch out!", and the next thing he knew a ton of saguaro cactus was lying on him.

Billy can handle the iron rod running from his hip to his knee, and the extra hardware installed in his back, but the cactus spines are still working their way through Billy. Slowly.

A saguaro cactus on the ground is something like a giant crocodile with spines. It is impossible to grip, and it weighs more than an elephant.

Billy is looking for work as a weather vane.

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