Aloe BLOOM!

Okay, this is just too weird. A few nights ago I was at a friend's house and I happened to admire her big ol' aloe plant that she had in her kitchen window. She and I were standing there looking at it and talking about it when I noticed that it was sportin' a weird stalk -- and lo and behold, we soon realized that the stalk was part of a bloom! I had never in my life seen a bloom on an aloe! My jades bloomed once, years ago, these tiny little bright white stars all over those dark-green, fleshy jade leaves, but I had never seen an aloe bloom. So, I complimented my friend on her aloe-growing skills, we went on with the evening ... THEN, next day ... I'm on my back deck trying to figure out what to do with the plants I don't have room inside the house for, and I happen to look at the big ol' chunk of aloe that I'd recently removed from a pot, and lo and behold AGAIN, there was a bloom! But this time on MY aloe, way across town from my friend's aloe. Here are a couple of photos: