We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Prosperous and Healthy New Year.
Arizona
Ocotillo Flower Buds
Last year, our neighbor who does construction work removed several Ocotillo shrubs from a job site where he was building a barn. He offered a couple of them to us to plant in our yard for added landscaping. We did plant them in the rock and cactus garden area west of the house. Oddly, they don’t show much in the way of signs of life except for flower buds growing on the ends of some of the canes (the branches emanating from the base of the ocotillo).
I took this image of one of the flower bud clusters still growing on one of the ocotillos. Click on the image to enlarge.
Arizona Sunsets are Among the Best of Them
During the late fall and winter months, we seem to get a lot of cloud cover which, if in the late afternoon, often produce some beautiful and spectacular sunsets. This one was visible today just after the sun went down. Looking west-southwest from our courtyard. Click on the image to enlarge.
Camera Girl
The hot weather is mostly behind us for the year. We are still using shorts and summer apparel during the daytime, but, come nightfall, it’s time for the sweats again.
I took this photo of Verna the other day while we were still in warm weather mode. She had been taking pictures of our local flora, fauna and other photogenic objects in the neighborhood.
One of the best things about our home here is that you can always be sure to see some critter or something in the sky that is worth pointing and shooting the camera. There is a never ending variety of desert goodness to be recorded by her camera.
IN the background, you can see the flowering plum tree in the courtyard behind the gate and wall enclosing the area. Click on the image to enlarge.
Cactus Wren
I went up on the hill behind our house to hang up a birdseed block and bell yesterday. I had my Canon EOS Rebel SL1 camera with me fitted with a 75-300mm lens. This little guy perched on a rock near the feeders so I snapped this photo of him. Click on the image to enlarge.
Textured Sky Above Home
A tropical disturbance west of Baja California in the Eastern Pacific Ocean brought these feathery cirrus clouds over Arizona today as another low-pressure area over the pacific interacted with the tropical air aloft. Verna took this photo of the house from the driveway as we were getting ready to go shopping this afternoon. It was just another beautiful second spring day. Click on the image to enlarge.
