Transitions

Spring back in Wycombe, PA, was marked by the first crocus pushing through the remains of the last snowfall.

In contrast, spring in the Phoenix, AZ, area seems to be marked by the appearance of wildflowers. It is their colorful appearance that marks the transition from February (average monthly high is 70 degrees) to March (average monthly high is 75 degrees).

Yeah, I know, . . . some transition.

And this year's spring in the desert has been especially colorful, as we've mentioned before, due to the above average winter rainfall.

Our recent walk through the Maxwell Desert Wildflower Trail at Phoenix's Desert Botanical Garden took us past the scenes below.

"Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words. They are the hieroglyphics of angels, loved by all men for the beauty of their character, though few can decipher even fragments of their meaning."--Lydia M. Child

A turn on the trail took us to the Marshall Butterfly Pavilion, which is only open from March 6 to May 9 this year. Here we saw the Malachite (above)

and the Buckeye, which was sitting on the hand of one of the other visitors to the Garden.

A volunteer uses a "feather duster" wand to remove any butterfly riders before visitors can leave the Pavilion.

Can we conceive what humanity would be if it did not know the flowers?"-~Maurice Maeterlinck





"Friends are flowers in the garden of life"--Anonymous

In the course of our walk along the Wildflower Trail, we came upon two sculptures produced by Chiricahua Apache master artist Allan Houser. The bronze sculpture on the right is entitled "When Friends Meet," 1987.

This 1992 bronze sculpture, entitled "Spirit of the Wind," is at the entrance to the Botanical Garden.





"The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size."-~Gertrude S. Wister