Seemingly overnight, a neighbor's cactus out front has burst into color! Our winter was deficient in precipitation, but the desert plants somehow survive and create seed to propagate, a few weeks later than usual. The depth of color is amazing. A type of Prickly Pear Cactus, soon the flowers will wilt and disappear, leaving behind "fruits" destined to become new arms on the plant. The fruits have been harvested by Native Americans for hundreds of years, deliciously edible, and today Prickly Pear jelly and jam is widely available. The fruit inside: Last week, my wife and I were sitting out on the patio, when a large flock of Geese appeared high above, heading northward. She ran for her camera, caught a few snaps a bit late, but the bright sunlight glinted off the birds brightly when they turned sidewise. Frank
I LOVE prickly pear anything.....jam, syrup, tea.... prickly pear margaritas.....divine. What I'll never do again is to try to eat the pulp directly out of the rind. Nope, don't ever want to be pulling spines out my lip again. Lesson learned painfully.....
Nice pics, Frank. Nature beats television any day of the week. Just last weekend it was raining, and I was awakened at 6:30AM to the sound of spring gobblers (turkey) screaming their heads off right beneath my bedroom window. It made me smile.
@Beth Gallagher Thank you, all, for taking the time to recognize my effort to think away from the disordered and discomforting facts of today's reality, by seeing things wondrously natural around us! Frank