We know that parts of Arizona have
experienced some precipitation lately and had wondered if we’d be seeing the
cactuses in bloom. Just past the New
Mexico/Arizona line we started noticing some little yellow ground flowers along
the highway; then Kim noticed nearby mountains were yellow instead of the usual
desert drab. To me it looked like they
were covered in a layer of pollen. 😏 Anyway in the 4 or 5 years we’ve been coming
out here, this is the first time we’ve seen flowers covering the mountainside. Rest area was coming up and I requested a
stop simply for the photo opportunity. While
there I struck up a conversation with a friendly trucker named Sid, who had a
lilting Jamaican accent. A piece of
information surfaced during our conversation which prompted me to fire up the
MCC and do a Google search when I got back to the truck.
I like to watch nature shows, especially if
David Attenborough is narrating…he’s easy to listen to while I’m sewing. David has told me many times that plants need pollination
in order to produce flowers, fruit, etc., and that pollination is an above
ground activity. When Sid the trucker and I were discussing the
intensity of the color of various flowers…some were light yellow and some a
richer yellow…he asked if I knew why that was and then launched into telling me
that the root system of the plants are intermingling underground and that’s
what produces the different colors. He
said it happens with trees’ roots systems, also. I didn’t refute Sid’s
statement because I didn’t have a need to argue/disagree with this man that I’d
never see again. So I didn’t say
anything but my mind was buzzing with “Huh!? Not the process I learned” and “David
Attenborough never said anything like that” and “Well, I’m checking this out on
Google.”
There are a couple of things to note at this
time: #1--I did a ‘pollination’ search and #2—I don’t understand all the horticultural
science/terms found on the many pollination websites that popped up. I sew for a living, I don’t grow plants…even
for pleasure. And #3--I don’t know
enough to say with absolute authority that root systems of various plants don’t
intermingle. What I do know is that I couldn’t
find anything on Google that supports Sid’s ‘root systems cause the color of
the flower to change’ theory. So feel
free to do your own research and let me know of your findings. 😎
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Heading west on I-10, we drove through about
a mile long section of the highway that had intermittent fires burning
alongside the road. This wasn’t just
smoke…there were cactuses engulfed in flames.
It could have been a controlled burn but there wasn’t any supervision to
keep the fire from blowing its way up the mountain…and it just seems like a
controlled burn would be supervised especially along a busy highway. Saw a sign farther up the road cautioning
that the Burn Hazard is Extreme today
and as I was pondering the controlled vs. wildfire question out loud, several
emergency vehicles went flying past in the eastbound lane. At this point, my vote is that it was a
wildfire.
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Occasionally I’ve been hit with a sense of
disconnect because we’re so far from the routine of our life back home. Like we’re wanderers without a home
base. But it passes quickly. And as we drove through the Tucson area and
settled into those last 40 miles, I felt a small thrill when I saw the
silhouette of Picacho Peak in the distance.
It’s very distinct and gave me the reassurance that we’d soon be off the
road and settled down for a few weeks.
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Arrived at the campground at about 2 p.m.
(Mountain Time) and it took about ½ hour to set up. This campground relies on
seasonal work campers…meaning that every year there are new people staffing the
office, doing maintenance, etc. So it’s
not like we see the same people each year but there is a familiarity to all of it.
Realized upon checking into the office today that there were two obvious
changes...the popular on-site restaurant, Frankie’s Steak House, is closed and
there are no fresh eggs to buy.
While I was putting the finishing touches on
making the trailer livable, Kim went up to the office. When he mentioned setting up his telescope in
the spot he has used in the past, the lady at the desk said he’d have to talk
to the manager about that because the campground is under new management. Well, that explains the restaurant being
closed and no eggs. Seems the camp sold
last summer, which makes me wonder about Jerry and Frankie, the previous owners…why
they sold, where they went, are they okay, etc.
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So…we were really looking forward to coming
out to a familiar place but now I’m feeling unsettled about being here. The
camp and the rules haven’t changed so why do I feel this way? I’ve been thinking on that for the last couple
of hours and I think it’s partly because the news was very unexpected but maybe
to a larger extent it’s because I realize that we’re no longer ‘known’. The previous owners knew us…they may not have
been able to call us by name but just saying that Kim was the guy with the
telescope brought instant recognition. Hope this unsettled feeling goes away as time
goes on and I’m sure I’ll feel better once Kim has an opportunity to talk to
the manager…although he has mentioned being of a mind to go somewhere else if
he can’t put his scope up. Where we’d go
is a big question but nothing to fret about right now.
5 pm update: Managers won’t be in until tomorrow so we
still don’t have a decision on the telescope but we’re free to head into Eloy
for groceries.
8 pm update: Sky has a thin layer of clouds so
perhaps imaging wouldn’t have worked tonight anyway.
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There are a few of things that are unchanged
from the last couple of years: the sound
of the trains running nearby, the hum of the traffic on I-10, the saguaro
cactuses up by the office are still home to a couple of birds and the
hummingbirds are still here in abundance because the feeders are full.
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Saw
a high 81o today…however, we didn’t get the opportunity to bask in
the warmth because we flying down the road with the A/C on. 😰 |
| We made it! |
Everything that I found about those flowers say that they are Mexican Gold Poppies. From what I've read, a Mexican Gold Poppy ranges from light yellow to orange in color. Given that, I'm not sure how Sid the Trucker's theory of roots holds up, but it does perhaps explain why there are different shades of yellow.
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