Thing of Purpose

Our own modest contribution to the local fruit harvest—an Asian pear—is thriving. The warm weather was bringing everything on at a remarkable pace. Even the Knobbly Neighbor tree joined in with general rush to bloom, leaf, and fruit. Then the weather forecasters warned of a series of cold fronts moving through during the remainder of the week. We had waited a week for roofing materials to arrive for the completion of the roof improvements, so that was a little worrying. The roofers arrived on Wednesday morning and completed the job in time to pack up and go for a late luncheon. The discarded roofing offcuts lie against the fence. Then the rain started and it came down heavily for a couple of hours. The 'storm light' made everything look hyper-real. The keys on the Silk tree glowed like decorative ornaments in the sunlight against a dark sky. This plant never fails to show its best during 'rain & shine' weather. That must be a good luck rainbow that ca...

We headed out into the boonies, where the wireless Internet and mobile phone services come from up on the hill. The engineer told me that up there in winter the wind howls through the masts and it is hard to even stand up. In the basin at the foot of the cliffs the cactuses are starting to bloom. Some sooner than others… …there is even a smattering of what passes for grass in these parts. You can probably guess where there is water, even though the stream bed at this point is dry unless it has been raining. It was time to turn back, resisting the lever temptation trap, after we reached this ancient artifact lying on the desert floor. A huge cartoon cloud-poodle was romping across the skies. On the road home we saw these three blazing bushes in Toquerville, Utah. Later that week, this plant bloomed in our own front yard. Elsewhere in the neighborhood there were other splashes of color. The bright red leaves look particularly attractive among other plants. Here r...