My Christmas Cactus Blooms On Time!

I have this lovely Christmas Cactus on my desk at work, which until now has bloomed in February. This year, to my surprise, it actually started blooming in time for Christmas! The plant itself is kind of plain looking, but its once-a-year flowers are breathtaking and unique - they remind me of birds in flight. Here you can see the different stages in the blossoms - first come little buds, and then they get bigger, and then the petals kind of peel themselves back, revealing the stamen inside. It really is wonderful and exciting to witness, year after year, whether or not you happen to celebrate Christmas :)

Feel free to click on any of these, if you'd like a closer look! 
As an added bonus, there are some nice shadows happening here, in addition to the pretty flowers themselves. I'm going to post this to Shadow Shot Sunday 2, the new incarnation of my favorite meme. Join us, won't you?
And it's a perfect entry for Ruby Tuesday, too, hosted by Mary at Work of the Poet. Come check it out, to see more reddish photography from all over the world!
Merry Christmas to all of you who are celebrating today! Here's wishing all of us a wonderful Shadow Shot Sunday, and a wonderful year full of peace, happiness, and beautiful flowers!