Saguaro National Park
It’s not too often I get the opportunity to photograph the desert, especially the desert after a heavy rainfall that leaves large puddles of standing water with perfect reflections of prickly pear and saguaro cacti.
We visited one of the more isolated areas of the eastern part of Saguaro National Park. We hiked the Mica View Trail, which offered great views of the Tanque Verde Peak and Mica Mountain, but I was most fascinated by the puddles and spent a fair amount of time sprawled on the damp desert floor taking photographs.
Staring into the burning desert sun. Desert heat
rises, sears my soul, the searching soul, seeking light.
I sink into the sand-earth, the desiccated cactus roots cannot support me.
Be not distraught. Reach out. Stand upright.
The sun drops off the edge of the world, night slips in quietly, settles,
A star shimmers and
another.
I have journeyed long,
watched sunrises and sunsets, and the ascents and descents of many moons.
And now a multitude of stars alight the heavens, milky streams of light, and with faith
I await the return of the sun.
~~~~~~~~~
This is a contribution to the poetry challenge being run by the Abbey of the Arts: Entering the Desert’s Fire. In the invitation to share a poem Christine writes:
I invite you this week to write a poem about your own invitation to enter the refiner’s fire – in alchemy lead is transformed into gold through heat and this becomes a metaphor for the human soul. What is the lead within you ready to be transformed into something treasured?
Saguaro National Park
This saguaro cactus is nearly bulging at its seams. The Sonoran Desert region in this part of Saguaro National Park has had a rainy period and the saguaros were able to soak up the rain water and store it in its ribs. As the weather becomes hotter and drier, the saguaro will use the stored water and the ribs will shrivel and become more ridged.
Moody Desert in Black and White
Candle Wood, Coach Whip, Flaming Sword, Jacob’s Staff, Slim Wood, Vine Cactus - all are various names for the Ocotillo cactus. Found only in the Sonoran desert in the Southwest United States and adjacent Mexico, it is a practical plant. Its branches, covered with spiky thorns, makes a naturally effective fence. Those thorns are sharp, nothing to be reckoned with.
Tucson in background
Visited Saguaro National Park at sunset. The low sunlight gave the cacti a glowing cast and contrasted with the purple mountains of Tucson in the background.
Prickly Pear Cactus
This cactus seems to have an eerily human resemblance!
One of the thousands of cactus I saw in the Tuscon unit of Saguaro National Park, just west of Tucson, Arizona.
So This is What a Desert Looks Like?
Yes, I admit it. I learned much of what I knew about deserts from the Road Runner and Wily E. Coyote. They both delighted me and led me astray. I now know that all deserts do not look the same. The Saharan Desert, whose characteristics I cluelessly gave to all deserts, is by no means the same as the Sonoran Desert, or the Mojave Desert, or the Chihuahuan Desert. How misguided could I be!
I spent all of yesterday roaming the western part of Saguaro National Park in the Sonoran Desert, a very small part of the park located just west of Tucson, Arizona. Tomorrow I’m going to the larger park east of Tucson. Seems I can’t get my fill of the desert, or at least this kind of desert.
Many of the cacti are in bloom. The roadrunners do not rush past me with a beep-beep, but they do rush past quickly enough that I cannot take their photograph. But they are so darn cute! I must have 500 photos of desert scenes, and another 800 of other travel destinations, and I still have a goodly amount of my trip ahead of me.
OK, I thought I’d send a bit of desert heat back home. 100 degrees yesterday. 95 today. No lie! I heard from my daughter/house sitter that she had to shovel the driveway this morning. Hee hee! Now I’m headed back to the desert for a sunset hike. It’s finally cooled off enough so I can manage that 5 mile loop I’ve had my eye on.