Isn't Nature Beautiful?

Who would think there were so many beautiful flowers in the desert.  I certainly don't remember any as a kid in the high desert of California.  Just let a little bit of springtime rain fall in Arizona and you have instant flowers, almost like those instant sea monkeys you bought as a kid.  This isn't inside of the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, this is the parking lot.

Everywhere I walked, flowers were blooming.  It's not a trick because I saw very few drip irrigation lines.  It's just how the desert shows off it's finery.

This will be my next purchase with that plumber refund, assuming of course that it arrives in the mail.  This is a Baja fairy duster.  

Up close, this is what the flowers look like.  The colors range from white to dark pink.  Once I found out what it was, I was surprised to see it all along the highways, blooming up a storm.

You don't see many of these unless you are an early riser.  Most of these flowers bloom at night, giving you one day to catch them in the act.  

With my plant growing skills, these would most likely not bloom, but aren't they spectacular?  This one was taller than me.

I couldn't decide whether to look at the flowers or find the birds.  I've no idea what this is, but it looked like a weed .... very similar to my dandelions.

The roadsides are covered with this gorgeous yellow daisy-like flower.  They are everywhere.  I even have a few below my house, but of course they don't look like THIS!!

You've seen this picture before, but look at all the flowers.  Pretty amazing to see in person.

Even my little gopher plant is starting to bloom.  

They have the most interesting flowers at the tip of every branch.  I can tell you from experience, this one is snow and heat hardy.

Lastly, in my own little back yard still lives that cactus I planted a few weeks ago.  He's so happy he's going to bloom too!!  I can't wait to see the flowers.  Don't you just want to pat him on his little soft fuzzy head??

So if you're ever wandering around the desert in springtime, take the time to check out the locals.  They make the bleak landscape beautiful for a time, fooling you right into the hot summer months.

I'm sorry to say, my trip to Tubac has been cancelled, along with the FMCA International Rally at the fairgrounds where I was planning on getting insurance for my rig.  

I'm wondering why there was no panic (or toilet paper shortage) a few years ago with the Swine Flu, where over 12,000 people in the U.S. died.  As of March 12, there have been 38 deaths in the U.S. according to Beckers Hospital Review and the CDC.  The numbers just don't compute.  I guess that's the accountant in me.

At any rate, I have no intention of sitting home.  There's stuff to do and things to see!!