Desert Beauties

Somehow, the simplest of plants always seems like a magical spectacle when walking in the desert.  Across the street from 'our' hotel in Carson City there is a small desert walk, set up on the hospital grounds.  Its a must for us each morning before our busy days begin.

This year I was fascinated by the 'fluffy' plants that we spotted as we walked. Unfortunately there are no plant names showing at their base, so we could only enjoy them in their nameless state.

The surprises of the desert landscape never ever cease to amaze me.

"I have always loved the desert.  One sits down on a desert sand dune, sees nothing, hears nothing.  Yet through the silence something throbs and gleams." - Antoine De Saint-Exupery - The Little Prince

Flowers in the Desert

This is the time of year when the desert blooms.  I'm sure there are many people who think that a desert is an arid wasteland - and if you drive through only looking out the windows of the car that would seem to be the case.

Stopping along the road - walking down a trail in the early morning - looking very carefully, there are many flowering plants to see.  Truly, desert walking fulfills the phrase 'stop and smell the roses' - however in this case it would be 'stop and see the flowers'.

I loved hunting out these small, colorful spots along the trail.  It was almost like hunting for Easter eggs -- looking for a bit of color in amongst the green, brown, rust and other desert shades.

Don't you admire these hardy plants that survive on little water, bending with the wind, blooming in spite of what looks like a non-flower area? 

And then there are those stickery, prickery cacti that say 'stay away from me'!

"The desert has a beauty all its own,

A rustic scene of something to behold.

As you look into what the winds have blown,

Extend it further out, it does unfold".

Lady Kathleen



Welcome Spring!

No spring has been as welcomed as this one, this year!  Time has warped throughout winter making not only the gray, cold, snowy days long and dreary but each week, each month cried out for sunshine and warmth and SPRING!

So here it is -- I intend to keep winter in my heart as an impetus toward more walking, more being outdoors this spring and summer and fall.  I will remember the snowbound/icebound/housebound days of this winter and get outside as much as possible.  Perhaps I'll even move my beading out onto the porch - just to soak in the warmth and the green and the freedom of being able to do so.

I share with you this picture -- doesn't it look like a shiny green egg?  Actually it is a green bottle that someone left in the woods.  Look carefully through the glass and you will see tiny, bright green leaves.  A plant of some sort has taken hold inside the bottle and offers this beautiful treasure in the middle of a pile of leaves and winter debris. 

So now that the earth is revealed and sprouts are sprouting and bits of plant life are peeking ever so carefully from beneath a layer of fall leaves -- I intend to soak in the warmer weather and to walk oh so delightfully into spring. 

"Every spring is the only spring, a perpetual astonishment". - Ellis Peters