Remember reading about The Great American Desert in school? I found it. 🙂
We’re in Tucson today. (Hi y’all!)
Talk about a whole new world. Know what they’ve got here? In spades? Cactus! Saguaro to be precise. The ones that stand TALL and have arms, reaching up to pray! The REAL thing, like you see on movies.
Isn’t that cool? I snapped that out the car window with my phone. They’re everywhere. Kind of like cedar trees in Northeast Okie Land. 🙂
This looks like a hillside full of tree stumps, but it’s actually . . .
A hillside full of Saguaro cactus. (Surprise!) Some look as if they’re growing right out of the rock, don’t they? Perfect for this part of the world. Interesting how God knows exactly where to plant things, isn’t it?
There are also a lot of short fat cacti that look like a pin cushion on steroids, and most of them are blooming!
From what I can tell on the Internet, they’re called Barrel cactus.
If memory serves, they’re the ones that you look for if you’re dying from thirst in the desert. (I think I saw that on a movie or in a book, so don’t take my word for it if you’re planning a hike in the desert.)
When I took the Barrel Cactus pics, I also saw this.
I hot-footed it out of that little garden right fast. (A rattlesnake might hide in the gravel, but they can’t hide on concrete. I hope.)
I’ve seen tons of these flowers, blooming in gardens.
I don’t know what they are, but I have a feeling they don’t take a lot of water. (There’s not much of it in this part of the world.)
Here’s a close up. Anyone recognize it?
Whatever it is, I hope it has a pretty name, like Angel Eyelashes or Flutter Hearts and not something awful like Skunk Britches.
Can anyone tell me?
September 14, 2012 at 9:20 am
Not sure but it does resemble the Bird of Paradise that is so prevalent in the Southwest.

September 14, 2012 at 9:34 am
Bird of Paradise is a pretty name. I’ll accept that. 🙂 Thanks, Larry. You know EVERYTHING!
September 14, 2012 at 9:51 am
Ahhhh…..brings back memories of growing up in the Southwest. There is something magical about the desert…especially after a rain. Your pictures take me back….
September 14, 2012 at 12:50 pm
I knew you lived out here somewhere, caroea. So different from Okie Land. Beautiful! God is so good to us!!!
September 14, 2012 at 9:53 am
By the way, the Saguaro only grows in Arizona and a state in Mexico, I think around the Baja area…..they are beautiful!
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September 16, 2012 at 11:03 am
I love cactus, especially barrels. I’ve always wanted a great big fat one, but it takes about a hundred years to get to the size I want, so they’re a bit pricey when you find them.
Those last pictures are beautiful. When we were stationed in San Diego, we spent a lot of time in the desert. It’s an amazing place.
September 20, 2012 at 7:22 am
I’ve never seen the desert before, at least not like this. It was BE-YOU-TIFUL!