I Like the Living, Dead Sculptures

It's always the cactus that someone else would call ugly or dead-looking that I not only like but find absolutely beautiful.

Partly, I just like weird things. Emus, for instance, are gorgeous and awesome. Everyone has their own type of preferences.

But the strange cactuses always give me so much to ponder. Some look sculpted, less about lush foliage and more about the shapes that they make. Like my night-blooming cereus, which has skinny arms that reach like tangles through the air, journeying this way and that. Plants like this are poetic in the way that they live.

This picture is from a couple years ago; the plant is much, much taller now.

And plants like this thing are amazing in the way that they live:

Is it alive? Does it look alive? Oh, yes, it's alive--believe it, it's thriving. Hey, it lives a little differently than a rose bush or an apple tree does but it isn't a rose bush and it isn't an apple tree. Its very life is defiance of death.

No water? Hey, that's okay, I can make it, anyway. Piles and piles of sunlight? That's cool, I'll manage. Give me the worst; it makes me thrive. Just watch me; I turn death to life. Those who look at me and think I look funny, they don't understand, and that's okay. I'm a living, dead sculpture, and that in itself is enough to celebrate.

The cactuses that express all that life is, in beautiful sculptures, are the best of all.

Springtime in the Desert

I don't usually share many pictures. Springtime, however, is the time for pictures. Desert blooms only last for a short time, and so every day that they bloom is precious. At the Desert Botanical Garden, during this time of year, the paths are filled with amateur and advanced photographers alike trying to capture these blooms while they can. So I wanted to share some of my pictures (most are from a couple of weeks or so ago).

A yellow flower to start with.

These blossoming pink flowers remind me of bunched up roses. 

The boojum tree, which spends so much time bare, like a statuesque piece of modern art, here stands with all of its little green leaves.

A bright pink flower on a beavertail cactus.

Luminous gold and deep red on cholla.

The yellow-green of these gives them a papery look.

Palos verdes are beautiful green trees most of the year; in springtime, they are green trunks with branches filled with yellow flowers. When the flowers fall, they leave behind yellow carpets, like this one surrounding these little barrels. 

Not the best view, but you can just make out the red flower tips on the ocotillo. If you look closely, you can see that the green leaves were already starting to die when I took this picture. 

The saguaro blossoms aren't out yet, but now is a good time to share my favorite saguaro at the Desert Botanical Garden. He has his arms reaching upward in praise.

A cluster of yellow.

These also remind me of roses.

Flowers on the tree and fruits on the cholla cactus.

Again, no blooms here, but I just love the way these pointy cactus plants grow up and around the trees. It's like a dance or an embrace. 

And here is a quail in a tree, not running on the ground like you usually see them.

A purple wildflower grows right next to a purple prickly pear, whose own flowers aren't quite out yet.

Pink blooms in the tree, green fruit on the cactus.

Here the pink blooms stand above the cactus's yellow and orange blooms.

Such a bright orange red.

While the full flowers are beautiful, I also love the still-shut buds.

A nice little row.

These, once again, remind me of roses, or like a flower crown.

Springtime in the desert is a magical time.

The flower and the Cactus

To apologize for not having a picture before, I'm posting this one today that has absolutely nothing to do with what I'm talking about. Wait. . . what am I talking about?

Let's try a new strategy: connecting this picture to some book or other.

The flower doesn't have the best focus here (I know, I'm not a great photographer), but I love its contrast against the cactus pad. They contrast in looks, but they're actually quite similar. The flower is pretty, but small and insignificant. The cactus pad is larger, but uglier, especially given all the holes in its flesh. So they're on pretty equal ground. Like. . . Jane and Rochester! (Somebody should probably start thinking about reading more than just Charlotte Bronte.) Of course, Jane is plain rather than pretty, but I'm thinking of who she is instead of what she looks like. She's a kind, devoted, beautiful person, though very small in the world. Rochester, well, he is kind of ugly. But besides that, he's higher up. You can see his status, his power. Cactuses are powerful things, storing all that water (like Rochester's inherited money) to live off of for so long. Then they both have their strength. His is more inherent; hers she has to work for more to survive in the desert they're in.

Well, to say "desert" figuratively, of course. I personally adore physical deserts. The weather is so beautiful now that the sun is actually warm again. That's why I just had to go on a photo shoot of all the pretty greenery, including this pair.