Verna and Bob's Weblog

Scenic Panoramic View from US60/BNSF Railroad

It’s a real shame that only freight moves along this section of BNSF’s rail between Surprise and Morristown, AZ. A dome car on a passenger train traveling along this route would be treated to this scenic panorama of desert vegetation (Teddy Bear Cholla, Saguaro Cacti, Palo Verde and others) with jagged Arizona mountains in the distance.

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If the hypothetical passengers were to continue along the BNSF route to Las Vegas, they would also be treated to scenes along the Hassayampa River and then on into the Joshua tree forests of northwest Arizona. If you don’t like the scenery (who wouldn’t?), just wait five or ten minutes and one kind of beautiful scenery will be replaced by another.

I can’t take credit for the panoramic image since I cropped it from one of Verna’s photos from yesterday. Click the thumbnail above to see the full-sized panorama.

March 15, 2012 by Arizona Panoramas Retirement

Bees Love Yellow Spring Flowers

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We went shopping for a few things today and found ourselves down in the “touristy” part of town. We have a favorite shop in that area, and Bob got a birthday present for his Mom’s 92nd birthday next month. I also got a pair of shorts and some really cool dangly earrings.

Walking back to the truck, I noticed a bush with pretty little yellow flowers (I don’t know the variety). Upon closer examination, I found that the bees also like the yellow flowers. Click on the image to enlarge.

March 13, 2012 by Critters Flowers Photography

Cow’s Tongue Cactus

lawyers-tongue.jpgLast spring, I rescued a leaf of Cow’s Tongue Cactus (Opuntia engelmannii var. linguiformis) from the wash behind McClure Park here in town. I planted it in native soil in a pot and within a few weeks it had grown two new leaves. As winter approached, it seemed to go dormant, producing no new growth. Just the other day, I saw that the long-dormant cactus has started to grow three new leaves (red arrows in photo).

As soon as the new leaves grow large enough to be covered with the spines that protect them from the rabbits and squirrels eating them, we will try and return this cactus to the ground along the west fence of the property. This variety of opuntia does very well in the Sonoran Desert providing they are protected from the critters. Click on the image to enlarge.

March 12, 2012 by Arizona Home & Garden

Devil’s Tongue Barrel Cactus Fruit

I paused to take this photo of one of my Devil’s Tongue Barrel Cacti this afternoon. This one had a lot of flowers and now has quite a few of the cactus fruit growing between the spines and spikes. In spite of the natural defense this cactus has, the little desert critters still manage to nibble away at the fruit. Click on the image to enlarge.

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March 11, 2012 by Arizona Critters Home & Garden Photography

Planetary Conjunction

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Planets Jupiter and Venus are currently gathered in the western sky as they do from time to time. This evening, I went out with the new camera on a tripod and played around with some of the settings and modes to get this image of the conjunction in the twilight. I took this image using the AV or “aperture priority” mode on the camera. You can see the two brightest objects are Jupiter (left) and Venus. Our neighbor’s illuminated flagpole is visible near the bottom of the frame. Click on the image to enlarge.

March 10, 2012 by Nerdliness Photography

Avalon 1998

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