“In our finest hours…the soul of the country manifests itself in an inclination to open our arms rather than to clench our fists; to look out rather than to turn inward; to accept rather than to reject. In so doing, America has grown ever stronger, confident that the choice of light over dark is the means by which we pursue progress.”
― Jon Meacham, The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels
I like writing about where I am, where I happen to be sitting, the humidity or the clouds, the scene outside the window— a pink tree in bloom, a neighbor walking his small, nervous dog. And if I am drinking a cup of tea at the time or a small glass of whiskey, I will find a line to put it on.
— from In the Room of a Thousand Miles by Billy Collins
On Friday, September 18, 2020, District Ranger conducted a guided tour for Partner members ahead of the Scheduled Reopening of Sabino Canyon Recreational Area on September 21, 2020. Fifteen Partner members, five each from:
Friends of Sabino Canyon Sabino Canyon Volunteer Nationalists Santa Catalina Volunteer Patrol
In addition to the following video, images of the Drive-thru are in this Flickr Album.
“Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
Amaranthus palmeri – Carelessweed (Near the Tanque Verde Wash in Tucson) — Image by kenne
These plants are often found growing in fields, along roadsides, in drainage areas, and along desert washes. The spine-tipped flower bracts are prickly (especially when dry) and can scratch bare skin. Do not walk through a dense patch of dried Carelessweed while wearing shorts.
The Gila monster is a large, heavy- bodied lizard reaching a little over 1¼ feet in length. The head is large, with small, beady eyes; the tail is short and fat. The family name Helodermatidae means warty skin, referring to the beaded look of the dorsal scales, due to the presence of osteoderms (small bones) under the scales. The lizard is bright pink and black, usually in a reticulated pattern, but in a banded pattern in some populations.
“What if our religion was each other. If our practice was our life. If prayer, our words. What if the temple was the Earth. If forests were our church. If holy water–the rivers, lakes, and ocean. What if meditation was our relationships. If the teacher was life. If wisdom was self-knowledge. If love was the center of our being.”
Sunset Near Tanque Verde Wash (09/15/11) — Image by kenne
Such a beautiful tree — so representative of life. Yet, we often see beauty only in the foliage and blossoms nature provides in one of life’s stages. Why?
Beauty is everywhere — there is beauty in death, marking the stage so important in the cycles of life.
This tree (image of) is amazing, a sculpture in the face of the sun, containing the shapes we use to design our places in this world.
What image do you present in the face of the sun? Does it add? Does it subtract?
“A regal horned lizard looks on calmly as a hungry coyote comes near. All of a sudden—splat! The crafty lizard squirts the coyote with a stream of blood from its eyes. Believe it or not, this reptile can shoot the gory goo three feet or more! And that’s just one of its clever tricks.”
This summer, the Big Horn Fire caused so much damage to the National Forest in the Santa Catalina Mountains remains closed to the public. Therefore, hiking and photographing wildflowers in the Catalinas will not be in 2020, which provides a good excuse to revisit some wildflower photos over the past ten summers.
