For the third and probably final time this season, the “Cherry Red” cactus (Trichocereus Grandiflorus) flowers are open. This cactus has the brightest red blooms of all the cactus flowers in our garden.
We had a little rain and some thunder this morning, but the clouds cleared and I could get this photo of one of the gorgeous flowers. Click on the image to enlarge.
Verna took this photo today of some cumulus clouds building up east of us with the big saguaro and ocotillo in the foreground. We have been getting storms since Thursday of this week and expect them to continue until Monday according to the National Weather Service.
This evening, we are surrounded by thunder cells with lightning very frequent. We were out in the courtyard a few minutes ago when the International Space Station passed overhead and visible to us through the gaps in the clouds. Very entertaining!
Last evening, we were in the courtyard after some light rainfall. When we looked west, we saw this nice array of colors. I went inside to get my camera to capture this nice colorful cloudscape. Click on the image to enlarge.
During spring and fall we may heat the spa, but when the outside temperatures here in the Sonoran Desert climb above 100 or so, the heater goes off and we use the spa as a place to cool off. The water temperature (measured today) was a cool 85° while the ambient temperature on the patio where the tub lives was 104°.
I captioned this photo on the FecesBook™ post I made today as “When it’s a dry heat – get wet!” Click on the image to enlarge (credit to Verna).
I cropped this panoramic image of the Hassayampa River from a shot that Verna took from the bridge on Friday. Normally, the river is dry above the surface at this time of year, but a couple of weeks ago we had some rainfall and snow in the mountains which is, apparently, still melting off.
Shortly after the rainstorms, this part of the river was full bank to bank with whitecaps and rapids. The water flow is diminished now and will eventually dry up until the summer monsoon season.
Click on the panoramic image to view full size.
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.
