A Treasure to Behold

I haven’t studied the science behind cactus blooms, so suffice it to say, my mind is blown away in a similar fashion as to when I ponder metamorphosis. I saw a beautiful short animation film on metamorphosis once and it was broken down into simple parts and stages, but nevertheless, when a caterpillar emerges into a butterfly, I choose to marvel at Mother Nature with a sense of wonderment. Just the thought of instinct for one thing; the ability to be born with all the knowledge that you need in order to survive from the moment you are brought into being. Wow! But back to the cactus flowers, how can they produce such outrageously, large and numerous blossoms, with no leaves, and all those wicked quills poking out to protect the vulnerable, water saturated stalks?

So I biked for a couple of hours yesterday morning in Anza- Borrego Desert State Park and there is very little out there that appears to be alive, or at least at a glance, not suffering horribly through this season of so little rainfall. The acacias still have a few golden flowers on them, the century plants, all in tandem it seems, have shot up their asparagus type stalks and another species, the yucca, that supports a plume of gorgeous, white flowers, are far and few between. Some palm trees have flowering bouquets, heavily laden with clusters of tiny white blooms, are humming and vibrating with desert bees. The sage, though struggling and brittle, has managed to support a few silvery blossoms.

This particular cactus, that was so exquisite I jumped off of my bike and took numerous photographs of; this fortunate plant was growing in a tended yard and had the benefit of being watered. It was covered with beautiful, soft pink and white flowers, their edges touched with salmon and burgundy. The wild desert honey bees had discovered this treasure to behold and were rolling ecstatically in the center of the blooms as they collected pollen in an orgy of delight!

As I bike, I look around attentively and it takes my mind off of the effort of pedaling in the heat. I love biking and really appreciate being in the desert where very few people are around and I don’t have to worry about cars on the road. I didn’t pass one vehicle yesterday. The temperature has stayed under 100 degrees, so it is still very tolerable here. We are planning on going back up to Lake Cuyamaca on Monday to continue exploring off-road biking. The trails are incredible there. It’s too crowded over the weekend though. Callie is bored with olive tree climbing and ready for another adventure! She won’t have to wait too much longer.