A Cactus Nursery

This is a photo of some Teddy Bear Cholla cactus or Cylindropuntia bigelovii. These cactus have a solid mass of very sharp spines that gives them the appearance of being soft and fluffy. From time to time, the cactus drops portions of its spiny arms to the ground and over time these dropped spiny balls root and grow into new baby cactus. This is the first time I recall seeing this occur in such a dramatic way. If you look closely at the photo you can see many small rooted cactus surrounding the two larger ones. Eventually, these cholla cactus form an entire dense "forest" of cactus.

A note on the word "cactus." The singular of cactus is cactus. One traditional plural form of the word cactus is cacti. Modern usage also recognizes the word cactuses. However, when used as a collective noun, the word cactus can mean a large number of cacti or cactuses.

A Fishhook Circle

This barrel cactus is commonly called a fishhook cactus because of the curvature of its spines. It's the scientific name is Ferrocactus wislizeni. Many of my recent photos have been taken directly from my iPhone 8 plus.  the fact that the camera is only 12 megapixels limits the ability to show cropped detail. I am sure that the future will hold much higher resolution cameras as well as those with more editing capabilities.

A Foamy Design

Some of the simple things we see around us possess intricate design and beauty. I was fascinated by the swirling foam on this artificially created creek. You may have to click on the photo to see the detail. The water looks like syrup. I love capturing these images and I hope you enjoy looking at them.

Floating In the Clouds

The real snow is late in coming this year. We have had several snow storms and the mountains have been covered with snow, but warm spells have melted all but a few patches on the north slopes. In this shot, you can see that there is no visible snow. We don't mind the warmer weather and clear skies, but then again, I am no longer an avid skier. There will not be too many more photos of the mountains for a while unless I dig into my archives.

Sotol: Growing in the Sunlight

One thing you cannot ignore in the desert is the sunlight. This lovely sotol plant (Dasylirion wheeleri) is used as a landscape plant in Arizona. Native to northern Mexico, the sotol loves the sunlight. This has been a year of record sun and heat in Arizona and many other places. Perhaps all this sunlight can remind us of He who is the light of this world. #LightTheWorld

Light and Shadow

Do you take the light for granted? Sight is a marvelous gift. Here the light creates its own world. A world where the ordinary is transformed into the extraordinary. You just have to open your eyes and look. If you cannot see then perhaps you can feel the sunlight. What I see with my eyes includes feeling. This photo conveys the limitless beauty of both light and shade. As we come into this Christmas season, remember the example of Jesus Christ and "#Lighttheworld."

Prairie Dog

It must be my day for animals. As I have mentioned, I do not fancy myself as a "wildlife" photographer. But I do take a shot when I get the chance. This fat little guy was just sitting there and didn't do more than blink for several minutes. He is an Arizona Black-Tailed Prairie Dog or Cynomys ludovicianus. There are five species of prairie dogs in the United States and they have mostly been considered to be pests, some to the point of almost extinction. Wikipedia reports that a black-tailed prairie dog town in Texas was reported to cover 25,000 square miles and had 400 million individuals. You can probably guess that the animals that I am likely to photograph are fairly common.