Thursday Doors…insect doors

Here comes Thursday again and that means it’s time for Thursday Doors. Hurrah! A few days ago I met Donna from Wind Kisses at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. I did a very brave thing–I didn’t take my camera along, only my phone, and vowed not to stop constantly to take photos, just enjoy the time with a friend. It went better than I expected although I admit to taking a few shots with my phone. But we not only saw the beauty of the desert but had an tasty lunch and lots of good friend time.

The three insect houses have sections that look like doors although every opening actually is a door when it’s in an insect house. I had to include this quote because it made me laugh and can be so true:

“Insect life was so loud that when you parked the car and got out it sounded as if you had suddenly tuned into a radio frequency from another planet.”
― David Samuels

“We don’t give a damn to the insects on our Earth, but if we could find even a single insect on Mars, the whole world would cherish it like crazy!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“If it were illegal to kill insects, I’d be in the clink for three million years.”
― Foster Kinn, Freedom’s Rush II: More Tales from the Biker and the Beast

“Every being devotes and dedicates itself to some innate purpose. Single cells, microbes, plants, insects, animals—every being makes its own unique contribution.”
― Julie J. Morley, Future Sacred: The Connected Creativity of Nature

Monday walk…Chihuly-less

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! 🙂

You say cactuses, I say cacti.

When there’s a Chihuly exhibit on at the Desert Botanical Garden, it’s easy to forget that his creations are just visitors and when they leave, the natives will still be there, patiently waiting for their recognition. If they don’t get their moment in the sun, well, let’s just say they can be a bit prickly!

The name “Creeping Devil” should give you some idea of how insidious this type of cactus is. You might say you’re looking at a plethora of cacti. Or would you be seeing a lot of cactuses? I decided to look it up online and found that either is acceptable. More than a few sources mentioned that “cacti” is the Latin plural while “cactuses” is English. See? You now know a little Latin.

This one reminds me of a plant version of a boa constrictor.

And then we have the cactus with the unusual shapes. Of maybe it’s more than one cactus. Hard to tell from this shot. But that’s it for this addition of the Cactus Chronicles. I’m sure you’ll be seeing more. In the meantime, enjoy the weekend. And since I was plunging into the morass of English/Latin/forms/etc., I began to wonder where “meantime” came from. It’s not, as you might think, related to Greenwich mean time but, long explanation short, comes from “mean” (in the middle or in a middle place) and of course “time.” Hence a time between now and later. 🙂 Aren’t we just learned as all get-out today (and no, we’re not exploring “all get-out.”) Sounds as if it should be related to the current “Shut the door!” (not meant in the literal sense.) But if you shut the door, you can’t all get out, so… 🙂

When two is/are odd

I’m off today to California to take part in the baby shower for our older daughter. This will be our first grandchild. 🙂 I’ve been taking care of my mom and dad, with much appreciated help from my wonderful husband, and it’s been tough. My mom moved into a care home, less than two days later was in the hospital with an infection, and is now back in the care home in hospice care. I’m definitely ready for a break!! I can’t wait to get into the van and get on the road. You can be sure I’ll enjoy my six days, even if two are mostly on the road.

The good news is that Becky’s back with her Squares challenge for 2022, the subject being “odd”, and although I won’t be blogging while I’m gone (at least I don’t plan to), I’ll start you off with an odd entry from the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix where I’ve been sharing the Chihuly installation over the last weeks. These give me that Dr. Seuss vibe that I so enjoy or maybe something from the Muppets.

See you next week.

The Square Odds

The power of light

“Not all the wings are made up of feathers my dear. Some are made of glass too.”
― Akshay Vasu, The Abandoned Paradise: Unraveling the beauty of untouched thoughts and dreams

Let’s take one last look at the ultimate group of sculptures on our walk. Notice how the backlighting from the sun fires the beauty of the glass.

“I don’t wish to argue,
whether the glass is
half empty or half full,
as long as what it holds,
is pure and delightful.”
― Akash Mandal

A few grace notes.

“When you look at a piece of delicately spun glass you think of two things: how beautiful it is and how easily it can be broken.”
― Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie

Moving to a different spot adds the interest of shadow.

That ends our tour of the 2022 Chihuly installation at the Desert Botanical Garden of Phoenix. I hope you’ve enjoyed the trip. It’s possible you’ll be treated to some of non-glass sightings in coming days or maybe even a few shots of glass that I didn’t use before. For now, thanks for walking with me and enjoy your Wednesday.

Approaching

It’s easy to take photos of the sculptures themselves, but remember that these beautiful interlopers were dropped into a beautiful desert setting. (I initially typed “dessert” setting. That “s” makes all the difference. But the desert view is as sweet in its own way as dessert.) So let’s take a look at what you might see if you were walking along with me. Some of the inhabitants are as amazing as the glass and certainly a lot more dangerous.

Framed.

Peeking.

Into view.

Tomorrow we’ll take some different looks at these sculptures that look for al the world like glamorous matches all alight at the same time.

Monday walk…neon in the neighborhood

Almost at the end of the trail, literally and metaphorically as far as the Chihuly installation is concerned, we came across a number of these creations which turned out to be neon. At night they’ll be lit up, another thing to enjoy when we visit after dark. Imagine how striking they’ll be then!

To the left in the next photo, with the sun behind it, you’ll see one of our favorite things in the garden: a boojum tree. The “tree” is actually a succulent that Dr. Seuss would have been proud to have created. Who knows? Perhaps he did. Click here to view a couple funky giant boojums.

Never forget that the Chihuly sculptures are only beautiful guests in this garden. Here are a few more of the inhabitants. Don’t let the soft look of these deceive you. The little spines can hurt!

No subtlety here, just “stay out of my face” spines surrounding lovely, small flowers.

That’s our walk for today. Unfortunately you’ll have to provide your own refreshments but think of all the virtual calories you burned! 🙂

Ethereal

One Word Sunday: real or ethereal

A dreamboat afloat in the desert

Six-Word Saturday 1.29.22

Just FYI, Mom was admitted to the hospital last night and it’s rather serious so I’ll not be around much today and ??? Thanks for your understanding and prayers.

Wordless Wednesday…sparkles and pick up sticks