Morning in the Desert

Earlier this week, I picked up my camera and took a walk around the desert surrounding our RV site.

Even though we are less than one mile north of the last east-west highway of Phoenix, the RV Resort is surrounded by desert, which is another way of saying metropolitan Phoenix was once desert and is gradually spreading further into the desert.

We often comment that we want to be here in the spring to witness the colors of the desert. However, the cacti and grasses, even in winter, have a beauty that draws us closer to these plants.

Walking among these plants shown here, I focused on the space in a three-foot circle around my feet. This focus had a two-fold purpose: to be on the lookout for any small critters that might not welcome intruders and to look out for the small plants that would have been missed with a "horizon focus."

The lighter colors and arrangement of other cacti drew my eyes to them as they meandered toward the horizon.

I was still surprised at the range of shades within the limited number of colors in some of the plants.

The early morning sun highlighted the lighter portions of some of the cacti, creating the appearance of a glow around them.

Today was a day to enjoy the different vareties of cactus, so I have not taken the time to research the identity of all cacti shown here. However, I have learned that the saguaro (pronounced se-WAR-oh) is shown on the left of the barrel cactus in the photo on the right.

The church shown in the distance is part of the Pioneer Village attraction adjacent to the RV Resort.

When my brother Ed and his wife Sharry were living in Arizona, they sent us copies of Arizona Highways, which introduced us to some beautiful photography and the majestic saguaro cactus.

The desert is a beautiful place.