Tucson is not a brown paper bag

I'm staying with my terrific brother and his wife; my mom has been here with them so we're all enjoying a few days together. And now, I'm sorry I'm already heading back to Virginia. It's been a great stay. 

My brother has a great sense of humor- dry and ironic but rarely, no- almost never, sarcastic. My sister and I have that vice in spades. Jim is just a funny, gentle man with a refreshing sense of wonder at the world. Love you, brother.  ( Sorry for exposing you, Janet....now the world knows)

And Jim and his wife, Brenda, like Tucson. It's their home and they enjoy the sunshine, don't mind the heat or at least have learned how to deal with it and love the mountain view off their patio.  So he has teased me about my comment that Arizona is like driving through a brown paper bag. 

Which the road between north Tucson and Oracle is. Sorry, Jim. 

But that's the beauty of the west.  On the east coast, Piedmont drifts into coastal or gradually climbs into  mountains.  And it's all covered with greens or the wild colors of fall. Beauty of it's own.  But in the west you can be in the Tucson valley surrounded by mountains, when suddenly you are in the flat paper bag of the desert all the way north to Phoenix. It's that quick change that I love. 

So here are some more pictures of Tucson- south through the Tucson Mountains over Grants Pass to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Lovely drive.  From suburbs to mountains to desert in forty five minutes.

Tucson Mountain Park- thank you Civilian Conservation Corps

Prickly pear cacti against the sky

Jim on a trail from the stone picnic shelter

Saguaro cactus- pronounced sa-war- o

Trail to.... more cacti

We arrived at the desert museum, an amazing place- here's a lovely description lifted right off their site-

In a nutshell
The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is a world-renowned zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden, all in one place! Exhibits re-create the natural landscape of the Sonoran Desert Region so realistically you find yourself eye-to-eye with mountain lions, prairie dogs, Gila monsters, and more. Within the Museum grounds, you will see more than 300 animal species and 1,200 kinds of plants. There are almost 2 miles of paths traversing 21 acres of beautiful desert.


http://www.desertmuseum.org/

Yep, the desert is beginning to bloom- at least in the controlled environment of the desert museum.  I expected or wanted to see vast swaths of desert poppies or the cacti pop their crazy blooms. That requires a rain so it's like taking a trip to Alaska and hoping to see the Northern Lights- it requires incredible timing, dumb luck or lots of time.  I'll have to be content with the blooms I'm seeing.


But the lesson I'm learning is really captured in these images.  Nests in the cactus.

A big cholla showing a high nest

Nest tucked into a prickly pear cactus

Close up- you take the risks of painful splinters to get these photos!

So, here in the Desert Museum in the midst of pockets of lush, beautiful flowers, the birds chose unlikely places to build their nests.  How do they bring the initial building materials into the spaces between the spines and the stickers of the prickly environment that surrounds their chosen home?  I'd pick a prettier place, maybe up a nice... well, no deciduous trees around but surely there are more attractive places to raise a family. 

But probably not a safer one. When our homes are surrounded by things that prick and sting us, we can be tempted to move.  Sometime the only place we find to raise our families requires us to be diligent to the dangers in a seeming hostile environment.  Or maybe what appears to be hostile, is the exact environment for safety and security. 

And sometimes, the desert experience that pokes me and pricks me and requires me to chose with care where I place my feet and what I do with my hands is also the safest place for me to be. Not the most beautiful or lush or comfortable.  But the place that pricks my heart back to the Maker who provides a safe nest for the birds of the desert.  A nest in a cactus. 

Cholla cactus- pronounced choy-a -
cradles a nest

This is a series of amazing closeups of quail and their adorable babies.

Fishhook cactus in the back ground

 Yes, they just froze for me... well, at least they didn't move. OK, they are metal sculptures. And I'll probably never be so close to ones who could run away! You take what you can get....

Beauty in the desert,
Blooming where you are planted.