My goodness, there are times that I so miss the Sonoran Desert, especially when I leave the desert grassland and get into the diverse vegetation that make up the desert that surrounds Tucson and I really like the scruffy shrubby plant Hyptis emoryi (now Condea emoryi. I'm behind the times. Dang!). The gray green leaves, the beautiful purple flowers and the scent of the plant. Yes, desert lavender! Plant one or two or three in your personal habitat to remind you of hikes in a hot Sonoran Desert. [caption id="attachment_62587" align="alignnone" width="465"]
The photo of desert lavender is courtesy of Ries Lindley and taken from the SEINet web site.[/caption] 
The photo of Ed’s headstone is mine. It’s the print of a slide I took with my wonderful old Nikkormat FT back in the day. It sure makes me want to get out our carousel slide projector and dig out all the slides from those family trips out in that western desert. The desert is beautiful my friends...yeah it is.
The common name of cacomistle (cacomixtle) for the ringtail is from the Nahuatl language. It translates to “half cat.” I can see that, especially...
When I was little boy I thought the name yellow-bellied sapsucker was the funniest thing I’d ever heard and though I did know it...
I love that sign. I call it the Robert Frost sign. I think Ms. Mesquitey is tired of me saying that. I love her...
