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.
Petey is saddened by the loss of local flora and fauna, but can still find moments of joy in creatures like the Texas Horned...
Petey talks about the beautiful desert shrub Simmondsia chinensis, better known as jojoba.
Between the Mesquitey chickens finally laying some eggs and the point leaf manzanita blooming in the hills, there is much excitement around the ol’...
