COLOR WEEK HITS THE SONORAN DESERT … WATCH YOUR STEP

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octillo

ARIZONA’S COLOR WEEK can be blinding and that can be dangerous in a place where everything will either stick, sting or bite you so get a grip before venturing out into the GREAT SONORAN DESERT. Always carry water, if you don’t need it, someone else might ! Make sure your tires and spare is in good condition and tell someone where you are going, when you will be home and charge your cellphone battery and your camera battery. Now relax and enjoy the drive and in almost any direction you care to venture frohttps://pkweis.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=2108&action=edit&message=1m Tucson or Phoenix ! Two weeks ago, the Palo Verde Tree took on its annual golden coat and the Hedgehog Cactus showed off its purple bloom, a few weeks earlier, a few poppies and lupine made a wildflower showing but 2011 will not be a memorable year. Since then, old reliable favorites, everyone is getting into the act, the Cholla has green, yellow, red blooms and the prickly-pears ever present abundant yellow bloom, the Octillo blooms red, and the white Saguaro bloom has already begun to show in spite of its big show in early June but the Sonoran Desert will be in riotous color for the next month as this land begins to heat up for a long, unrelenting summer, interrupted only by the monsoon rains … April is the only month when I have seen Gila Monsters out walking around, it is their mating season so they tend to prowl a bit more and they raise he ante for folks who never look where they are putting their feet and hands. Those are the folks who tend to get stung or bitten. Rattlesnake have made a showing in every month of the year but this time of the year they are out, but moving onto the warmer shoulders of roadways in the early evenings so take a flashlight for your walk back and wear boots not tennies, stepping on a snake is the best way to get bit! Who carries a plastic comb anymore in this digital age, you should, nothing works better in removing the “dreaded jumping cholla” from the back of your leg. Scorpions can be found under most any rock, the sting of the tiny Bark Scorpion, can last twelve hours and will lay out a big guy, for relief apply ice…. A macro focusing lens can be helpful but a close-focusing telephoto allows you to work at a safer distance. The Sonoran Desert is well known for its quality of light but blooms tend to open after sunup and spread their petals as the sun warms the day so late afternoon may be best time to venture out to see what is going on right in your own backyard.