Succulents and More™

“Once upon a time,” isn't that how all good stories begin? So let's start this one the same way. Once upon a time, my wife gave me a pair of agave ornaments as a gift. Made of rusting metal and spray-painted with color accents, they're a striking presence: A friend of ours was very taken with them and wanted his own. My wife referred him to the Etsy store of the artist where she'd bought mine, and that was the end of it. Actually, no. That was just the beginning, as we were to find out later on. One day, our friend—let's call him Gull for “gullible”—came across an online ad on Facebook for metal agaves that looked very similar to mine. Very similar. But the price was a fraction of what my wife had paid. In fact, you could buy three agave sculptures for the same price, with free shipping to boot! This felt like a cosmic gift to Gull so he went ahead and placed an order. Delivery took months, but the box finally arrived. But let's pause here for a moment because I...