Archive for the ‘Saguaro Cactus’ Tag

Three Little Guys Looking Up To The King   Leave a comment

Three Little Guys Looking Up To The King — Image by kenne

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

— Lao Tzu

What You See Is Not Always What You Get   Leave a comment

Saguaros In Sabino Canyon — Image by kenne

The blackness

of the sky,

caused by

changing

blue to black

in Photoshop

removing all color

changing the

vibrations

captured by your

optical nerve —

what you see

is not always

what you get.

— kenne

Saguaro Cactus In The Canyon   Leave a comment

A Many-Armed Saguaro Cactus (Sabino Canyon) — Image by kenne

Mighty Saguaro

Saguaro cacti rise up like mighty sentinels 
boldly claiming the high desert plains
tall and proud, their prickly arms
forewarn intruders to stop and beware.

A daunting presence, bold and majestic
toughness flows through their cacti veins
Saguaro endure long hours in the barren wilderness 
their roots persevere under the dry, hard crust.

With no respite, save for the night
Saguaro rule valiantly in a god forsaken land.

— Laura Leiser

Saguaro Shadows   Leave a comment

Saguaro Shadows — Photo-Artistry by kenne

Saguaro Shadows

Sun above the canyon wall

Alone, I hum songs.

— kenne

Crested Saguaro   Leave a comment

Crested Saguaro Upon The Saguaros — Image by kenne

Cristate or “crested” saguaros form when the cells in the growing stem begin to divide outward,
rather than in the circular pattern of a normal cactus. This is an unusual mutation that results
in the growth of a large fan-shaped crest at the growing tip of a saguaro’s main stem or arms.

The Trail Is Dusty   Leave a comment

West of Tucson — Panorama Image by kenne

The trail is dusty
Stirred only by our steps,
A soft breeze unable to lift
The dust above our boots

Often coming together as strangers
Sharing a love of the wild
And a desire to hear sounds
In nature’s best.

Nature walks are fine
Surrounded by experts
Who share their knowledge
Born with a feel for the moment

An eye for beauty and form
Nature speaking to the senses
Where nothing is perfect
And everything Is perfect.

— kenne

Despite A Mega Draught   Leave a comment

Brittlebush and Saguaro Cactus — Image by kenne

A megadrought continues in the west to make life difficult for desert plants. 
Still, a common desert shrub, brittlebush, knows spring is the time to green up and bloom. 
A member of the sunflower family, yet another symbol of strength during difficult times — a.k.a. Ukraine.

— kenne

Death In The Canyon   Leave a comment

Dead Saguaro In Sabino Canyon (January 15, 2014) — Image by kenne

The skin is the first to go
in the beginning protected 
from the sun by a nurse tree.

This symbol of the Sonoran Desert
so slow to grow in the beginning
going unnosed for years
in the shadows of the nurse tree.

We teach children about this icon
by having the guess the age
of a saguago based on its heigh.

— kenne

Benedicto   1 comment

Snow On The Peaks Above Sabino Canyon — Image by

We are blessed to live on this beautiful planet.
Yet, most people don’t show any gratitude.

 

Benedicto

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous,
leading to the most amazing view.
May your rivers flow without end,
meandering through pastoral valleys tinkling with bells,
past temples and castles and poets’ towers
into a dark primeval forest
where tigers belch and monkeys howl,
through miasmal and mysterious swamps
and down into a desert of red rock,
and down again into a deep vast ancient unknown chasm
where bars of sunlight blaze on profiled cliffs,
where deer walk across the white sand beaches,
where storms come and go
as lightning clangs upon the high crags,
where something strange and more beautiful
and more full of wonder than
your deepest dreams waits for you–
beyond that next turning of the canyon walls.

– Edward Abbey

Nursing Four Saguaros   Leave a comment

Nurse Tree for Four Saguaros In  Sabino Canyon — HDR Image by kenne

“I have come to the conclusion,
after many years of sometimes sad experience,
that you cannot come to any conclusion at all.”

― from In Your Garden Again by Vita Sackville-West, 

Pincushion Cactus Flowers   Leave a comment

Pincushion Cactus Flowers — Image by kenne

When most people think of cactus in the Sonoran Desert, the image that comes to mind is the giant saguaro cactus. 
The saguaro grows only in the Sonoran Desert is one of the largest cacti. The saguaro cactus is a symbol of the American Southwest. 
Its inner meaning expresses the idea of standing tall, adapting to the environment, and providing shelter and nourishment for others.
Given its stature and authority, it holds a grandfatherly type of wisdom. 

Because saguaros are so common in the Tucson area, it is home to one of this nation’s national parks, the Saguaro National Park. 
However, it is not the most common cactus in the Sonoran Desert. That honor goes to the little pincushion cactus. 
Being so small and often in the shadows of the giant saguaro, their chances of being noticed are slim unless they are blooming.

— kenne

 

Springtime In The Sonoran Desert   4 comments

Springtime In The Sonoran Desert — Image by kenne

This saguaro has grown under the protection of a mesquite tree serving as a nurse tree.
This spring the cactus is loaded with flower buds, many of which a beginning to bloom.

— kenne

Budding Season For Saguaro Cactus   Leave a comment

Budding Season For Saguaro Cactus (Sabino Canyon) — Images by kenne

Mockingbird On Saguaro Blossom   2 comments

Northern Mockingbird On Saguaro Blossom — Photo-Artistry by kenne

 

The Early Bird Gets The Nectar   Leave a comment

“The Early Bird Gets the Nectar” (White-winged Dove on Saguaro Cactus Buds) — Image by kenne

In April, the budding of saguaros is followed by the return of white-winged doves from Mexico who love the nectar in
the saguaro blossoms. This image captures a white-winged dove atop buds soon to blossom — another take on
“The early bird gets the worm.”

— kenne

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