There were reports that a dragon has been sighted in Borrego Valley of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, so we set up our Safari in Borrego Palm Canyon and joined writer/photographer Bert Gildart and his wife Janie on a hunt for dragons and other game along the way.  We rendezvoused with Bert and Janie at Borrego Springs’ Christmas Circle and traveled north on Borrego Springs Road.  The topography here reminded me of Ernest Hemingway’s description of parts of Africa where “the country began to open out into dry, sandy, bush-bordered prairies that dried into a typical desert country…” (Green Hills of Africa, Scribner, 1963, New York, page 160).  It wasn’t long before we spotted big game off to the right and we pulled off the road for a photo shoot.

It looked like elephants and camels were here.  Bert started taking photos a safe distance from these creatures, but one seemed to become wary and turned abruptly toward him.

As the space diminished between us, it became obvious that these creatures were actually large metal sculptures, Sky Art, created by sculptor/designer Ricardo Breceda for Dennis Avery’s Galleta Meadows Estate, depicting Gomphotheres, Camelops, and other creatures that roamed here during the Pliocene, Pleistocene, and Miocene eras, millions of years ago.  Larry and I had visited this Sky Art two years ago as seen in my “Springtime in Galleta Meadows” post.

We retreated back to our trucks and resumed our pursuit of fabled quarry, the dragon.  Further down the road, we caught sight of its humps and pulled over to visually take in all 350 feet of The Serpent with a Chinese dragon’s head and rattlesnake tail undulating in and out of the desert sand.  We then respectfully approached for a planned photo shoot.

Janie held the strobe while Bert used his Nikon D7000 camera to photograph Larry wearing traditional Chinese clothing of the late 1800s.  (See Bert’s photos in his posting “Year of the Dragon“.)

Larry wore traditional clothing in the Manchu style of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) such as this long blue gown (changshan), black skull cap with a jade ornament, and hair in the queue style.  (Historical note: “To frighten the Chinese, in 1873 San Francisco adopted the Queue Ordinance, which allowed prison wardens to shave the heads or cut off the long braids of Chinese prisoners,” writes Jean Pfaelzer in Driven Out: The Forgotten War Against Chinese Americans, Random House, New York, 2007, page 75.)

Larry used a long bamboo pole to levitate a white Chinese lantern symbolizing the pearl of wisdom and knowledge, which the benevolent Chinese Dragon is fond of pursuing. The pearl also symbolizes truth, enlightenment, wealth, good luck, and prosperity.

The idea for this sculpture began with Dennis Avery.  “Dennis also is keenly attuned to Chinese culture through his wife, Sally Tsui Wong-Avery, who is founder of the Chinese Service Center in San Diego and the principal of San Diego’s Chinese Language School,” writes Diana Lindsay in her new book, Ricardo Breceda: Accidental Artist, Sunbelt Publications, Inc., 2012, page 205.

The arrival of this Chinese dragon is timely and auspicious as we enter the Year of the Dragon, which begins on January 23, 2012.  It’s a time to say “Gung Hay Fat Choy,” and watch the Dragon Dance!

Oh, there is one more thing… the second day of the 15-day Chinese New Year celebration is considered the birthday of all dogs!

There were rainbows over San Diego and snow fell on the Laguna Mountains, but the Anza-Borrego desert night sky was filled with stars the night before Bert and Janie drove down from their winter camping spot at Pegleg Smith Monument to visit us at Agua Caliente County Park in Southern California.  Writer/photographer/Airstreamer Bert Gildart and his wife Janie are from Montana and have produced a number of guide and nature books such as Bighorn Sheep: Mountain Monarchs. His beautiful articles are seen in most issues of Airstream Life magazine.  Our last hike together was New Year’s Day 2010 for an evening photo shoot of Marshal South’s home, Yaquitepec, on Ghost Mountain.

The nights were chilly but our Safari Airstream trailer was warm and cozy inside and festively decorated for the holidays.  Before we left San Diego, Larry had made a Christmas tree (in the style of ones seen in Pennsylvanian German settlements in 1747) for Bert and Janie using materials from our garden, including Juniper, Rose hips, and Bromeliad bloom spikes.

It was a glorious sunny morning when Bert and Janie arrived with good cheer, smiles, and a large bottle of California Chardonnay wine.

We happily chatted as Larry served hot cider, homemade panettone and carrot-raisin oatmeal cookies.  This is Bert and Janie’s first time here, so I had fun introducing them to the park, the Marshal South connection and its beautiful hiking trails.  They joined me on a late morning hike on Moonlight Canyon Trail, where I photographed Peninsular Bighorn sheep last January.  A third of the way into the hike, Bert pointed up and smiled.

We spent the next 30 minutes at this spot photographing 5 Bighorn sheep that were grazing on the nearby ridge.

Bert was in his element. See his photo of the above scene in his posting, “Christmas at Bill & Larry’s.”

Seeing these mountain monarchs this close is like finding gold.  Perhaps Janie helped our fortune by recently adding 10 rocks to the Pegleg Smith Monument, honoring the legend of Pegleg Smith’s lost gold.  Bert turned to me with an expression of true joy.

After a two-hour hike, we returned to camp and enjoyed Larry’s homemade Cajun pork stew while conversing over myriad subjects of interest.  At a certain point, Bert got up to stretch and whispered to me with a boyish smile, “Do you think we could go back out on that trail… I could bring my bigger lenses and strobe light equipment and photograph the California Fuchsia we saw… and maybe the Bighorn sheep might still be there!”  So Bert and I took off like a couple of school kids on vacation.  I saw and photographed more of Bert’s photographic artistry, which will be seen in an upcoming post.  We returned just as the sun went down behind our nearby mountain ridge, quickly bringing cooler temperatures.

We thanked Bert and Janie for their good cheer, insight, company, genuine warmth and understanding… especially as we approached the shortest and darkest day of the year, winter solstice… and for helping us drive the cold winter away.

We may have been dreaming, but last week our Airstream Safari landed in fair weather in the Anza-Borrego Desert just a day after San Diego got more rain in one day than it usually does for the whole month of November, and for the next five days we enjoyed sunny days with temperatures in the 70′s and cool, clear starry nights.

Just after dinner, a beautiful moon rose over a mountain to the east of our campsite.

Our favorite campsite at Agua Caliente County Park has panoramic views.  We enjoy camping there on weekdays to avoid weekend crowds.  Although the campground was nearly empty during our latest stay, we did have an adjacent neighbor with a large fifth wheel RV.

Our neighbors enjoyed evening campfires.  Unfortunately, due to the proximity of their fire ring and the direction of the wind, smoke and sparks flew over and around our trailer, requiring the closure of all vents, windows and awnings.

We enjoyed reading, relaxing, and hiking the Moonlight Canyon Trail, while keeping on eye out for Bighorn sheep that I had photographed there last January.

Larry enjoyed reviewing and highlighting recipes in a new cookbook, The Airstreamer’s Cookbook, a collection of recipes submitted by members of the Four Corners Unit of New Mexico, of the Wally Byam Caravan Club International (WBCCI).  The dishes included have been prepared in members’ Airstreams for happy hours and potlucks at Four Corners Unit Rallies.  The design, illustration and layout were done by Terry Rich and Greg Schmuker/TBRich Design.  Terry says, “This cookbook was designed, printed and produced completely 100% gratis by members of the Four Corners Unit of the WBCCI.”  This cookbook can be purchased by contacting www.fourcorners.wbcci.net.

Larry enjoys discovering and trying out new recipes, with the intention of preparing interesting and tasty dishes for our trips.  On this trip Larry prepared an “International Feast” menu, consisting of precooked entrées that included Cajun Pork Stew with Yukon Gold potatoes, Kalua Pork (Hawaiian pulled pork) tacos, Koresh Fesenjan (Persian chicken pomegranate stew), adas polow (Persian lentil-basmati rice pilaf), and Tortas ahogadas con guisado de pollo y costillas de cerdo en salsa de chille colorado (drowned Mexican sandwich filled and covered with a chicken and pork sparerib chili).

Evening meals were followed by watching a model plane enthusiast fly radio controlled planes (including a Discus Launch Glider), walking our dogs, and star gazing, followed by relaxing in the trailer as I continued reading out loud another chapter of the Harry Potter saga, this time from the 5th book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by author J. K. Rowling.

During afternoons, I continued reading Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson.  I am now halfway through this compelling 630-page biography.  I see interesting parallelisms of the Steve Jobs and Harry Potter characters as early as the first chapter, “Childhood – Abandoned and Chosen.”  According to Isaacson, one of Jobs’ personal heroes was Muppeteer Jim Henson, seen in the tone poem commercial, “Here’s to the Crazy Ones – Think Different.”  On Wednesday evening (November 16), we delighted in listening to the CBC Radio program Q, as Jian Ghomeshi chatted with Kermit the Frog, Henson’s most famous character.

Steve Jobs has been described as a creative entrepreneur, perfectionist, innovator, visionary, artist, and genius… he also was a dreamer.

Here’s to the Dreamers

We might have been crazy ones, spending a significant chunk of our retirement savings for a relatively expensive recreational vehicle, but upon seeing our custom-ordered 2007 Airstream Safari travel trailer shining in the sun as flags waved festively overhead at the dealership, I felt that ‘OH WOW’ experience.

For us, the Airstream trailer with its iconic shape, clean lines, beauty and functionality, made us feel good, and was well worth the investment.

Our decision to buy this was based on much research, and once it had been acquired, I began researching a replacement for our 9 year old PC.  For me, having a PC had been a love-hate relationship and I wanted our next computer to be enjoyable, functional, beautiful, intuitive, and relatively trouble-free.  I noticed that several people were fulltiming in their Airstream trailers (Rich L. and Rich C.) while happily blogging away on their Mac laptops.  The Mac vs PC research led me to buy an iMac and a MacBook Pro.

Needless to say, it was another ‘OH WOW’ experience and love at first sight and use, and continues to be so… the beauty of aluminum in form and function.

As I write this, I am using the MacBook Pro made by Apple. Steve Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was its co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer.  For three hours on October 19, Apple closed all of its retail stores worldwide for “A celebration of Steve’s life.”  Earlier this week, PBS presented “Steve Jobs: One Last Thing – An inside look at the man and the major influences that helped shape his life and career.”

On October 24, 2011, Simon & Schuster released the authorized biography, Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson, now the top-selling book in the country.  As I read this fascinating story, which includes his faults as well as his achievements, I found it interesting that he was influenced by some of the people that influenced me when I was in college, such as Bob Dylan (“It’s Alright Ma“), Timothy Leary (“Legend of a Mind ~ Moody Blues“, The Beatles (“Two of Us“), and Joan Baez (“Forever Young“).

Earlier this week, we celebrated Día de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, a day of celebrating and honoring those who have gone before us.  Larry made Pan de Muerto, a sugar-topped sweet egg bread traditionally shaped into skulls or round loaves.

On October 16, a memorial service was held for Steve Jobs at Standford University’s Memorial Church, where Steve’s biological sister, Mona Simpson, delivered a moving eulogy, and revealed his last words: ‘OH WOW. OH WOW. OH WOW.’

Here’s To The Crazy Ones

Last Sunday we arrived at Agua Caliente as temperatures soared in the 90s, requiring air conditioning that first night, but by the next night I was wearing long johns as a rare early October storm from the Gulf of Alaska began moving into the area, bringing rain to the San Diego coast and high winds and unseasonably cool temperatures to the desert.

We came prepared to celebrate Oktoberfest.

Larry brought items prepared at home such as Jäger-Schnitzel (American version: Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup simmered with pork chops), Würzfleisch (East German chicken stew), and Kartoffelsalat (German potato salad).  We also brought leberwurst (liverwurst), bratwurst on skewers made of rosemary branches from our backyard, Beck’s Oktoberfest Lager, and German steins.  Additional items such as corn beef, corn on the cob, and pita bread provided meal flexibility depending on the weather and how we felt at the time.

By Tuesday, cool breezes made for a comfortable hike through Moonlight Canyon Trail, where I had a close encounter with Bighorn Sheep last January.  (The park rangers were impressed with my photo journal of this event made with iPhoto’s book-creation tool.)  I saw no sheep, but I was impressed with a large California Fuchsia, a.k.a. Firechalice, on the trail with a profuse display of scarlet flowers that we have not seen before because it blooms August to October, when we usually are not here.  A Rufous Hummingbird was seen nearby.  The flowers supply hummingbirds with food for the start of their southward migration.

I discovered a scorpion in the park restroom sink as I was about to take a shower.  I helped it out with some tissue paper and coaxed it out the door, but it quickly darted back under the door, so I chose another shower and now keep a closer eye out for creatures in restrooms (and those that like to take shelter in our trailer tire covers).

After the shower, I enjoyed Larry’s corn beef – Swiss cheese pita wrap served with chips, tomatoes, and Beck’s Beer.

This was usually followed by afternoon reading or napping.  At bedtime, I continued reading out loud Harry Potter.  We are currently reading Book 4, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Before the gusty winds arrived, we enjoyed mellow evenings under the moon and stars.

On Thursday, we listened with sadness to a BBC tribute to Steve Jobs, which included his words of wisdom spoken during his 2005 Stanford Commencement Address: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life… Have the courage to follow your own heart and intuition.  They somehow already know what you truly want to become.”

The rising full moon amid fluffy clouds in an otherwise clear night sky was an auspicious sign as we began planning our fall and winter camping season.  This occurred last Monday night as we celebrated the Chinese Moon Festival.  According to Wikipedia, this festival is also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival and is a popular lunar harvest festival celebrated especially by Chinese and Vietnamese people on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, always coinciding with a full moon.

This is a time when family and friends gather together outside under the full moon and share in festivities such as eating mooncakes, sipping wine, and hanging brightly lit lanterns.  Loved ones who can not be together on this night can still feel connected by looking up at the moon at the same time.

As is customary in Hong Kong, Larry suspended Chinese lanterns on bamboo poles from a high point, in this case, from the top of our pergola.

We feasted on Larry’s homemade pizza under the pergola and watched the festive lanterns dance in the cool night breeze as lights twinkled in Mexico and throughout the South Bay.

As mentioned in Wikipedia, this festival is strongly associated with the legend of Houyi, the Archer, and Chang’e, the Moon Goddess of Immortality.  This is illustrated in YouTube’s “Legend of Moon Festival“.

Much of the symbolism of this festival revolves around the shape of the full round moon, emphasizing unity, wholeness, completeness, togetherness, well-being and prosperity.  It is said that catching the reflection of the moon in one’s teacup, glass of wine, or bowl of water is a perfect moment.  More ways of celebrating the harvest moon are described by Eleanor here.

Another perfect moment occurred on this auspicious night with the blooming of our Nightblooming Cereus, Queen of the Night.

This festival is also called the Mooncake Festival because mooncakes are often prepared in the shape of the moon and are usually made from lotus seed paste and may contain yolks from salted duck eggs.  We celebrated with two types of Chinese bean paste pastries, winter melon and mung bean.

We continued to share this special night by my ongoing daily bedtime readings out loud of Harry Potter, currently Book 3, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

The Easter tulips were still opening their purple blossoms as we made our way to the sea to spend 5 nights camping at South Carlsbad State Beach Park while a heat wave was peaking in sunny San Diego.  Cool sights, sounds of the surf, and delicious food and drinks made for a relaxing and enjoyable time.

Our Safari trailer was parked on a bluff 50 feet above the beach within 15 feet of a sheer drop-off.  The nearby chain-link fence does not look pretty, but it is a safety feature that keeps tipsy people and dogs and other objects from tumbling over and reduces the incidence of costly beach rescues.  Some people place chairs on the picnic tables when viewing the sunsets.  The fence also plays a role as a makeshift tripod, keeping the Nikon camera steady while capturing squirrels gazing at the Pacific Ocean.

Long lines of pelicans, sometimes in a V formation, were seen gliding by our campsite throughout the day.  Once considered an endangered species by the federal government, the brown pelican population is now on the rise in California.

Pelicans were also seen gliding along breaking waves for the opportunity to scoop up fish for a tasty meal.  (In the morning we also observed pods of dolphins doing their herding maneuver of squeezing schools of fish into bait balls for a fish-eating frenzy.)

As the sunset approached with cooling late afternoon breezes, Larry was in his element as he prepared to deep-fry catfish nuggets, steam corn, and reheat sabzi polow (pilaf, a herb rice dish) that he made ahead of time at home.

In making Mediterranean-style Deep-fried Catfish Nuggets, Larry used one cup of flour mixed with 1/2 tsp. turmeric (provides a beautiful golden crust), 1 tsp. crushed dried fenugreek leaf, salt and pepper, and coated the catfish nuggets while the pilaf and corn were steaming in the Chinese stacked steamer on the Volcano stove.  When the pilaf and corn were done, Larry deep-fried the nuggets for 1-2 minutes (until golden), which were served with pilaf, corn on the cob, chilled champagne and a golden sunset.

After dinner, we settled back in our folding chairs and gazed at the glowing, peaceful horizon.  After the myriad sights, sounds, activities and strollers that flowed by our campsite each day, we welcomed the lulling and ever-constant rhythmic sound of the surf.

Addendum: This article first appeared one week ago, but vanished in thin air while our blogging software (WordPress) was being updated.  It took a few days to work out the bugs, but now it seems to be working, and it feels nice to spread my wings again and relearn how to fly… and feel the good vibrations!

Desert wildflowers were blooming and the sun was shining, so even wild horses could not keep us away while record-breaking high temperatures were rolling across San Diego County.  It took longer each day for the sun to dip below the nearby mountain range and bring comforting shade and refreshing coolness to our Safari and us.  During the week temperatures progressed from the high seventies to the high nineties in the Anza-Borrego Desert.Areas of the Anza-Borrego Desert were once part of the ancestral Gulf of California and are rich in fossils, such as horse teeth.  According to Wikipedia, the horse is native to North America and Equidae fossils date back to the Eocene period, 54 million years ago.  Equus fossils, such as those thought to be Equus scotti, have been found in the Anza-Borrego Desert.  All Equidae in North America became extinct about 12,000 years ago, but horses eventually returned to the Americas with Christopher Columbus in 1493 (second voyage).  Some horses escaped and formed feral herds, such as the Mustang.  In 2003, the last herd of wild horses in Southern California was removed from Anza-Borrego’s Coyote Canyon, but efforts are underway to restore the herd amidst much controversy.

We recently acquired this beautiful fused glass art, “Galloping Horses”, by Lyn Feudner, from The Art Glass Guild, part of Spanish Village Art Center, next to the San Diego Zoo.  A closeup of this piece is seen in Lyn’s blog posting, “Fused Glass Horse“, and is based on her sketches posted last May.  It goes well in front of our Vista View window.

Here is what is also new in our trailer.  We found that the Cuisinart CPT-60 2-slice toaster with its wide long slot is perfect for toasting slices of Larry’s homemade artisan bread rounds and fits perfectly in back of the stove when not in use.

It is pulled out onto the mat under the stove hood when in use (unfortunately it is currently unavailable).

This 39″ high Bionaire Tower Fan from Costco has a small footprint and yet produces a cooling breeze inside the trailer when it is not quite hot enough to close up the trailer and start up the noisy air conditioner.

It is remote controlled and comes with a 12″ high Mini Tower Fan.

Eventually, as the week progressed, we did turn on the air conditioner…

and began dreaming about our next camping destination…

bluff-top  camping overlooking the Pacific Ocean…

where wild horses couldn’t keep us away.

Desert blooms are not as profuse in some places of the Anza-Borrego Desert this spring due to three straight nights of freezing temperatures in February, but magnificent points of color can still be treasured.  Avoiding nails, I carefully backed our Airstream Safari into our Agua Caliente County Park campsite, right up to two spectacular ocotillo plants lush with small green leaves and profuse crimson flowers.

Every morning we opened our door to wonderful displays of color.

Nearby our two ocotillo plants is a creosote bush in full bloom.

The Creosote bush, Larrea tridentata, is an evergreen shrub with dark green leaves and yellow flowers.  According to Wikipedia, this plant was used by Native Americans in the Southwest as a treatment for a variety of illnesses and it is still used as a medicine in Mexico (the species is named after J.A. Hernandez de Larrea, a Spanish clergyman).

Another medicinal, the ocotillo, Fouquieria splendens, has bright crimson flowers that often appear after a rainfall.  According to Wikipedia, the fresh flowers are used in salads and the dried flowers are used for herbal tea.

Marshal South and family’s spirits rose when spring came to their desert home, Yaquitepec, on Ghost Mountain.  He wrote in his Desert Diary 4 (May 1940) April at Yaquitepec article:

 All the desert is awake and rejoicing in Spring. Fountains of wax-like white flowers tower above the green, bristling bayonets of the yuccas and the emerald wands of the newly-leafed ocotillos are tipped with points of flame. Color! Sharp, vivid color! That is the keynote of the wasteland’s awakening. And the knowledge that the vanished Children of the Desert found in many of these gorgeous blossoms a source of nourishing food takes nothing from their charm. Both the flowers of the yucca and the ocotillo are good to eat.

(All 102 articles and poems written by Marshal South for Desert Magazine from 1939 to 1948 can be read in Marshal South and the Ghost Mountain Chronicles: An Experiment in Primitive Living, 2005, Edited and with a Foreword by Diana Lindsay and Introduction by Rider and Lucile South, Sunbelt Publications, San Diego, CA.)

After a cold, rainy winter, my spirits rose while hiking the Moonlight Canyon Trail in full sunlight and rising temperatures.  I spotted a lizard basking on granite surrounded by a sea of Bigelow Monkeyflowers, Mimulus bigelovii.

Barbed cholla spines pierced my lower pant leg and shoes as I maneuvered to take the photo of the barrel cactus below.

I returned to camp, removed the cholla spines, and enjoyed my daily noontime shower followed by savoring a cotto salami sandwich made by Larry.  Slices of cotto salami are placed in a toasted bun with finely shredded cabbage, horseradish mustard, mayonnaise, cream cheese, and onion with a side of chips and pepperoncini, Asian pickled garlic & ginger, olives and Deglet Noor dates.  This was complimented by a cold bottle of Heineken.

Then came afternoon reading, writing, walking the dogs and dining and photographing under the stars… and listening to a French song.

Snow had fallen on all of San Diego’s mountain ranges just the day before we departed on our spring wildflower trip and I was tempted to engage the trailer’s flux capacitor once again to facilitate passage over the mountains, but I thought it would be more scenic to carefully weave our way around the mountains to our destination, Palm Canyon Campground in the Southern California desert. This amount of winter snow does not happen often here and when it does, people pour out of the city in bumper-to-bumper traffic just to romp in the snow and throw snowballs.  Indeed, traffic slowed enough for Larry to take this snowy winter scene as we slowly approached Santa Ysabel.

(This is as close as our trailer ever gets to snow.)

Sun, warmth and colorful wildflowers greeted us at our campsite in the Anza-Borrego Desert.  See the current wildflower report for this area here.

(Wild Heliotrope is seen in foreground.)

We camped during part of the festive season of Mardi Gras.  Seen on our camp table are Mardi Gras beads in the three symbolic colors of Mardi Gras, purple (justice), gold (power), and green (faith).  Also seen on the table are freshly cut flowers from our home garden and Larry’s delicious, homemade Craisin oatmeal cookies (my favorite breakfast treat with coffee).

Larry turned them into Mardi Gras cookies by carefully topping them with crystallized sugar in the appropriate colors and adding silver dragées.  Also seen below is the Commedia dell’arte mask of Arlecchino.

Mardi Gras is also celebrated by wearing masks.

According to the Wikipedia article, “New Orleans Mardi Gras“, processions and wearing of masks in the streets took place in the 1700s.

Larry is seen here wearing the Commedia dell’arte mask of Il Capitano, a character that Larry once portrayed at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire.  Wearing this mask, he surprised the rangers at the Ranger Station as he delivered these cookies!

This year the Original Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Irwindale, Ca is open Sundays and Saturdays, April 9 – May 22, 2011.

The Annual Arizona Renaissance Festival & Artisan Marketplace is currently open every Saturday and Sunday through April 3, 2011.

Although it was sunny and springtime-warm during our five days of camping, it had recently been on the chilly side and the wildflowers had yet to peak.  But due to recent rains here, the vegetation was green and lush.

When we were there, there were more flowers near the campground and along the .6 mile cement sidewalk to the Visitors Center than on the Borrego Palm Canyon Nature Trail, including:

Sand Verbena (above) and Barrel Cactus (below).

For many, it has been a thorny winter.  But now that the snow is melting and the weather is warming and the trees are budding and the flowers are blooming and the bees are buzzing and the birds are singing and nesting we are grateful to be here and happy to be moving gently from winter into spring.