Something had a nip at this butterfly but it lived to fly another day and obviously hanging in there. I’m flying (driving, actually) to California today for another rugby 7’s tournament and family time but the weather might not be too cooperative. The storm which is terrorizing California and much of the West and upper Midwest is threatening to dump rain on southern California, a 90% chance on Saturday although supposedly clear on Sunday. We’ll see. I have rain gear, although not heavy-duty, heavy-duty large garbage bags to serve as coats and over-the-knee-coverage as needed, as well as umbrellas. In 2014 at a stage of the Tour de France, garbage bags saved the day and that of the French couple next to us, so don’t discount them. Anyway…
Not sure how much I’ll be online but I leave you with this lovely butterfly and best wishes for a good weekend. I imagine I might be posting from the road if circumstances are right. 🙂
Last year, Donna of Wind Kisses and I met at the Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden for some friend and relaxation time. I decided that I’d do a very brave thing and not bring my Nikon, as I wanted to be able to listen and chat rather than constantly be taking pictures. It wasn’t easy!! I did have my phone, though, and I was very glad when we discovered that the Butterfly Pavilion was open. Naturally I succumbed to the lure of the butterflies, calling my iPhone into action.
I’ll start with one you’ll all know.
I didn’t know that almost half the butterfly species in North America can be found in Arizona, although there weren’t 362 1/2 species in the Pavilion. See which ones I spotted and held still long enough to be immortalized by my iPhone.
Here’s the butterfly baby nursery where you can see them hanging around waiting to emerge. More fun than bats, don’t you think, although I must say that I do like the fact that bats eat mosquitoes and other annoying bugs.
There was no cake involved but we did enjoy a tasty lunch in the restaurant after browsing and resisting the gift shop. A very goo day!
Once the unpacking is done, it’s time to see what neighbors are in residence. Fair warning: not every photo in this post is perfect. For instance this first one was taken in somewhat of a hurry with my phone because this neighbor is always leery of spending time in close proximity to the rest of us. But this isn’t so much about the photos but about the story told by those photos, about shy but always welcome neighbors and inhabitants of the mountains.
Although it was hot and getting close to the end of July, I was pleased to see plenty wildflowers, many of which were hosting their own guests. These guests never overstay their welcome.
The first two neighbors, although always enjoyed, aren’t as rare as these next drop-ins. Since we moved to Arizona at the end of March in 2020, the so-called monsoon season hadn’t produced much rain at all. I felt we were getting a good rain if there was enough water so that individual drops melded into the wet pavement look. (This year we’re thankfully getting lots of rain; lots for a place averaging 9″ a year.) So I was thrilled to see more drops in this photo than our back patio sometimes got in rains past at home.
Once the walk or walks are over, there’s always the porch. I like porches a lot. Spanish-style houses don’t have porches; they have patios. Patios are fine but they aren’t porches.
There are lots of good sayings about porches. Here are a few I really like.
Nowadays, people are so jeezled up. If they took some chamomile tea and spent more time rocking on the porch in the evening listening to the liquid song of the hermit thrush, they might enjoy life more. ~Tasha Tudor
True luxury is being able to own your time – to be able to take a walk, sit on your porch, read the paper, not take the call, not be compelled by obligation. ~Ashton Kutcher
My ideal summer day was reading on the porch. ~Harold E. Varmus
I dream of land, cut only where streams glistened with birdsong wander through quiet hills burnt hard by the scrape of wind, and of a porch from which a single road leads only homeward. ~Nancy E. Turner
As I pointed out in an earlier post, there’s a lot more to the Desert Botanical Garden that the Chihuly installation, stunning as it is. Let’s walk a bit looking at what the desert has to offer. You did notice that it’s the Desert Botanical Garden, not the Chihuly Botanical Garden. I thought you did.
Cacti aren’t just thorns. Many of them have beautiful flowers in season as well. But you might want to avoid trying to pick them or do so with the utmost care. Of course here you shouldn’t pick at all!
Before you ask, no, I don’t know what this is. But if you do, feel free to let us all know. (Yes, I’m too lazy/too busy to try to look it up online.)
Humans aren’t the only ones enjoy the Garden, although this butterfly appears to be attempting to pass as a flower.
Another Seussian sighting? I’m pretty sure this might be Thing 1…or maybe Thing 2. Who can tell them apart??
We ❤ the Desert Botanical Garden and it must be “Mutual, I’m sure.” (Hint: “White Christmas.)
That’s our walk for today. Thanks for coming along to see just a tiny, tiny bit of what the desert has to offer. Sorry I don’t have any dessert for you, but I did have desert–so close! 🙂
I like to walk down to this lake, walk around it, and reflect on this, that, and the other thing but the lake does its own reflecting as well. Pick up sticks, anyone?
It also provides a nice bit of bokeh.
Up close and personal with a butterfly? Alien? Somethings look different when you get this close, don’t they?
This, that and the other thing 