Mushroom Clouds
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona
2022

Stop, No Entry
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona
2022

The number of U.S. Border Patrol vehicles roaming around this part of southern Arizona (literally hundreds based on the parking lots full of them we saw) made me wonder how many were out there running around before Trump’s wall was completed across this part of Arizona. Given the number of Border Patrol vehicles we saw, as well as the amount of discarded camouflage clothing and empty water bottles I saw while hiking near the border, not to mention the fact the wall has reportedly been scaled with inexpensive makeshift ladders and cut with tools easily available at hardware stores, I’d say this stop sign is just about as effective as the wall in preventing undocumented entry into this country.

Pipe Insulation
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona
2022

This section of a dying organ pipe cactus looks very much like pipes I’ve seen wrapped in thick tubes of insulation. To complete the analogy, I note that the wooden cores of the skeleton arms of such cacti are hollow, like pipes.

Doing the Wave
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona
2022

Unusual undulating shapes of the arms of an organ pipe cactus.

Stackables
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona
2022

Unusal ball-shaped sections of an organ pipe cactus. I’d like to come back in a few years and see if it’s added even more.

Weather Watcher
Tucson Mountain Park, Arizona
2022

A Gila woodpecker perched on top of a saguaro cactus, watching the clouds roll by.

Shooting Star
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona
2022

When I first glanced over at this dead agave (a.k.a. century plant), it looked very much like a shooting start exploding as it hit the ground.

Senita Star
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona
2022

The brightly lit tip of a senita cactus.

Queen Victoria Agave
Tubac Presidio, Arizona
2022

Infused With Light #7
Tumacacori, Arizona
2022

The front of the mission at Tumacacori has a very similar look to many other missions, cathedrals and other structures around the world. But for some reason the front of this particular mission brought strongly to my mind some of the facades on the famous ruins in Petra, Jordan. (That’s famous as in many movies including Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.)