When most people think about a desert they think about dry sandy areas. Well, that’s what we have at Whitefish Point. In fact we live on a sand dune that is over 300 feet deep. When we had our well put in they had to go through 300 feet of sand before hitting clay, then another 84 before hitting the water table. Even after rains the sandy soils dry out quickly.
But most people think about sand dunes and cactus when thinking about New World deserts. Old World deserts lack cacti.
The above cactus and most that follow are pictures that I took in Arizona in 2019.
The saguaro is the iconic cactus of Arizona. It is one of my favorite cacti in the south-west.
The Joshua tree, while not a cactus is easily observed in the eastern California. This are amazing plants. When we visited the Joshua Tree National Park we spent the early and late parts of the day there because in June the temperatures reached 110-113 degrees F (43-45 C). What is even more amazing than the plants are the animals.
Collared lizards were not rare among the many different species that we found in New Mexico, Arizona and California. Neither were Roadrunners.
Gambel’s Quail were common in the deserts.
Some butterflies, such as this Texas Crescent were common in the deserts.
This was the only Gila Monster that we encountered, as it ambled slowly to avoid us.
But now we are one our own non-desert sand dune, enjoying the end of the day.
Tomorrow is a “keystone” art challenge. Back then…
Michael's Place 