I bring my binoculars out walking lately hoping for some fun sightings. I saw a coyote frolicking in one of the ponds last week, but that was twelve feet away. And I’ve heard there’s a bobcat in the area. That’d be fun to see from a distance. And you never know when some odd or unfamiliar bird will be flitting about.
All of today’s delights were up close and colorful. That’s surprising because the high temperatures have crossed the century mark. I think of summer here in the desert as drab black and white and gray. Even the color of sand seems to bleach out in the heat after a month or two. This morning’s walk through the local riparian preserve proved me wrong.
When I saw these tiny bursts of yellow with their brown buttons looking perky and bright I caught myself smiling.
These fuchsia blooms won’t last much more than another day in such heat.
Like pearls on a vine, these puff-balls diffuse the sunlight and capture the eye with a humorous elegance.
A smallish black bird with christmas red markings under its wings showed up along the trail, but flew off before I could get my camera focused.
Red Penstemon tempt the hummingbirds and brighten the landscape.
This gray rabbit dug a trench in the gravel and cradled himself in its coolness. His coloring and the rock colors match almost perfectly. If not for his face twitching and his dark distinctive ears I’d have missed him lying there. For all the hundreds of bunnies I see every time I walk here, I’ve never seen this behavior before. Reminded me of how a dog will splay out flat on tile to chill its body down on a warm day.
Orange makes it mark among pale greenery, showing off in a concentrated saturation of color.
The Saguaro are blooming with bright white flowers, still open even in the bright light of day.
And here a tree sports yellow puff-balls, like dollops of paint splattered about by a rambunctious child.
I nearly stumbled into a white Egret looking every bit as angry at being spotted as I delighted in sighting him. He stayed put for my photo, so I figure he must have had his eye on a juicy fish or he’d have flown off the minute I walked along.
These brown cattails seem so foreign in a desert environment. But then, I have to remember I’m walking in a riparian area, with an abundant and consistent water supply. What a brilliant and delightful way to reclaim water and refill an aquifer.
Green, of course, plays a dominate role along my entire route. Thank goodness for that. I’m not sure what I’d do without green growing things in my world.
I didn’t expect to see blue, except for the sky, while on my walk. Blue flowers just don’t occur very often. But then, wandering down to the water’s edge, two fluorescent blue dragonflies chased each other across the water’s surface. Not much bigger than an inch in length, a photo of them wasn’t a realistic possibility. But, I did capture the scene where they played among the reeds and rocks and water.
Every color I could hope for showed up today as I walked. I’d call that a promising start to my day, wouldn’t you?
“I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.” ~ e.e. cummings
Kami's Beautiful Morning 