Day #41 - Springtime in the desert

As my rampant allergies can attest, everything is blooming right now. The tree pollen is insane, but the stunningly vivid cactus blooms make it worth the suffering. This one is at a friend's house and is usually good for a few clusters of blossoms every year. They're about as big across as your hand, and the kind of wild red that makes you stop in your tracks and stare. When the desert blooms, it doesn't cut corners.

Day #15 - More flowers

I've had a lot of hits on my Picacho Peak hike pictures - especially the wildflowers. Sadly, we got there just before they really started blooming. This picture shows a particularly dense patch of yellow. When things really get going, this is what the entire area looks like.



I'm going to be playing airplane tag most of tomorrow, and then hitting the road for 4 days, so I may or may not get a chance to update. Hoping for lots of interesting new photos from the road!

Day #14 - Spring flowers

I think we're officially done with winter here. The last gasp was the freak snowstorm on Sunday - now we're slated to be in the 80s for the rest of the week. Sigh. Summer heat, here we come. I'm no fan of extreme cold, and I don't think you could pay me enough to move back to the midwest, but I do miss the changing of the seasons. There's something almost magical about trees blooming and green leaves poking through piles of snow. This shot was taken on the grounds of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ in 2005. A light, wet snow started falling as we arrived, and I found these lovely flowers while we were out on the tour. Wish I could have come back in a week to see everything in full bloom.