Critters and Prickly Things

This time last week I was anticipating the week of Spring break ahead of me. Time has flown and only one day is left before it's back to work. I hope to squeeze as much out of one last day as possible. Rain or no rain!

 

Here's the postcard shot from the Desert Botanical Garden. Blooming wild flowers, Saguaro cactus, sunny sky and Papago Buttes in the background.

 

The butterfly pavilion is in full swing. Here's a Julia butterfly which is a big hit in our household. 

 

We visit the butterflies yearly but I doubt I've gotten four at once.

 I expected to see plenty of critters but there were only a few. We caught this ground squirrel in the act. It scurried under the protective netting and helped itself to fresh wildflowers.

Collared Lizard. Nice looking creature but we almost missed it from the camoflauge.

Yucca. Not native to the Sonoran Desert but to the Mojave Desert. Our next door neighbor in California used to have some along the fence. Love the creamy, white flowers. Something about them reminds me of weddings/wedding dresses...

The other side of Yucca. The textured side...

Textures and layers and the many greens of cacti.

Two types of Prickly Pear cacti in the foreground.

Two types of Chollas in the middleground.

Towering Totem Pole cacti in the background.

Barrel cactus with a little somthing on the noggin. We concluded that the whitish, powdery stuff is pollen. We're far from scientists. I'm addicted to the visual stimulation.

 

I see this pink and green together and my mind goes back to a fabric my mother once had. I'm sure it was the early 70's. Striped, ribbed knit in two olive greens and a bright pink and off white.

Did something like this inspire the designer of that fabric?

We often think of "desert" and think of a barren landscape. I've learned otherwise and contemplate the discoveries to be made with every excursion.

Marissa