Desert Wash

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the desert, a wash is  a depression or channel formed by flowing water.  These waterways are often called dry washes because generally the word "wash" refers to the dry bed of an intermittent stream. However, during times of rain a wash can become a raging river even after a small intense rainfall of less than half an inch.  A wash runs behind my daughter's home and it is quite lovely, replete with flora and fauna.  This particular wash floods a well-traveled street when it rains, causing nearby residents giant headaches when trying to get out of the neighborhood to go to work and/or get their children to school.  It often means a detour of five miles just to traverse a one-block area.  But in dry weather, the wash is a beautiful ecosystem.  I walked through a good portion of it today and here I share some favorite photographs with you.

The bed of this wash is covered with sand and smooth stones ranging in sizes from pebbles to giant boulders.  The banks of the wash are dense with desert trees, shrubs, bushes and grasses because the water that flows through the wash during rainy seasons waters provides water to the roots of these plants for many months.

 

 
The photos above are a sampling of some of the desert plants I encountered on my walk.  Sorry but I just wasn't quick enough to shoot (no pun intended) that bunny rabbit who ran across my path at about 80 miles an hour.  He was just a blur!  I hope he wasn't being chased by a coyote!

Aquarium

Prickly Pear

Hibiscus

Walking Through the Desert Botanical Gardens

18/100 Strangers ~ Brent

Brent is a giant of a guy.  And he has a smile and a laugh that's equally gigantic.  I spotted him at my local farmers market sporting this ridiculous turkey hat, which actually gobbles and wiggles its legs.  I'm convinced he makes it do those things by wiggling his ears or vibrating his eyebrows.  He promises soon to be wearing some type of Christmas chapeau complete with lights.  Brent and his partner own Sweet Earth Art.  After visiting their booth at the market I thought the business was just the beautiful dichroic glass jewelry that was on display but after visiting their website I discovered they also have original art, mirrors, lampshades and even offer party showings complete with standup comedy by Brent's partner, Nick!  For more zany pics of Brent and Nick be sure to visit sweetearthart.com.

Weeds and Seeds

Monarch Butterfly ...

... at the Desert Botanical Gardens

Falling Water

Biomythic Masks, the works of artist Gwynn Popovac, are on special display at the Desert Botanical Gardens.  Bloggie friends Tracy and Magpie and I spent the day there and between the three of us probably took over a thousand pictures!  Tonight I'm too tired to give you the lowdown on these masks but stay tuned to another day and I'll show you more and tell you about them.  By the way, "Falling Water" is the name of the pictured mask.

Another November Rose

I decided to post another rose photo today because several of you in your comments made mention of the fact that we were lucky to still have roses or it was wonderful to have roses before the frost came, et cetera.  Here in the Arizona desert, we are just beginning our rose season.  In the past three to four weeks our roses have started blooming again after the summer's heat and we will continue to have blooming roses through the winter and the spring until probably July when the temperatures once again top 110 degrees.  Many people are surprised that roses do so well in our desert climate but we generally have roses in bloom about nine months of the year.  I never tire of photographing them and they are an abundant source of subject matter.

November Rose

Bubbles and Contrails

I promise this is the last of the State Fair pictures.

Swinging

I might be able to take this ride at the State Fair 

 As long as somewhere along the way you don't go upside down!