A few weeks ago, I paused when I read the following news headline: “Astronomers have discovered the largest known structure in the universe, a clump of active galactic cores that stretches 4 billion light-years from end to end.” This discovery evidently made astronomers rethink the size of the cosmos. It made me think, though, of […]
I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order. –John Burroughs Since returning home to the Texas hill country a little more than a week ago, I have felt particularly welcomed by spring blooms and by the healing rain that first started on Easter Sunday and returned […]
The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks. –Tennessee Williams When it’s spring and there has been a little rain, the desert blooms, breaking up the landscape with grace notes. These photos were taken in the Sonoran desert close to the vernal equinox, which annually seems to kick start a season of renewal. Mexican […]
The photo above certainly does not depict me–I won’t even try this rocky section which my friend Rosemary attacks with ease. Having grown up as I did with very little bicycling experience, I pretty much started from scratch a bit over a decade ago. As a kid I spent much more time riding a horse than […]
For days now the word “burgeoning” has been on my mind, like the refrain of a song I keep playing over and over in my head. I looked it up to see if it was the correct word for what I have been sensing around me here in Baja California Sur. The meaning of burgeon, […]
In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer. –Albert Camus I don’t always find Camus’ summer within me, but here in Baja California Sur, it’s easy to imagine that mid-February is not the depth of winter. The following photos (taken in the past few days) are meant to be a […]
As I rode horseback with my local friend Manuel into the desert mountains this week, I noticed lots of Baja fairy dusters in bloom. Just the name of this plant is enough to enchant me, but the brilliant red stamens arranged like tiny whisk brooms equally draw my attention. I like to picture the little […]
Almost three years ago, my husband and I stopped for lunch at the little Baja restaurant whose sign is pictured above, and I immediately noticed the prolific vine covering the fence out front. Its orange blooms overpowered even the adjacent bougainvillea, and I snapped several pictures. As I approached, I noticed some Queen butterflies nectaring […]
The bees on this Sour Pitaya bloom evidently find the nectar sweet. I found the flower to be one of the day’s “secret glories” (the poet E. E. Cummings’ term) as we biked on the Quail Trail. The Sour Pitaya or Pitaya Agria cactus is a cousin to the organ pipe, which also grows in […]
I think these cactus blooms look like fancy bows for holiday gifts. Photo taken Dec. 26th in Baja California Sur, Mexico.
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