It’s been cooling down
here during the evening hours just like it does everywhere...however, the cool
down is relative to daytime temperature.
This morning was the first morning that stepping outside in shorts and
t-shirt didn’t send me back in for a fleece...which meant that it would do well
to stay in the shade as the day progressed.
I grabbed a piggy cookie to eat while I
walked over the mail box...then I just kept on walking down the frontage road
with the thought that walking while eating a cookie just cancels out the cookie. No harm done...or so I tell myself. 😏
Went for another walk a short time later which reinforced the idea
that ‘better sooner than later’ is so true when it comes to walking outside in
the Arizona sun.
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Saw the woodpecker nosing around outside the
starling’s nesting hole today...looking in, then leaning back, looking around
and peeking in again. Expected to see the starling swoop in and defend its
space but the woodpecker flew off before that was necessary. Now I’m wondering if the woodpecker is a bit
confused on where its nest hole is...one
arm over and around the other side, dude.
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 |
| Tree Feathers |
Our site has a tree in it...off to the left
near the hedges and fence line and my research indicates that it’s a Chilean
Mesquite Tree. When we arrived it looked budded but nothing had popped yet. There’s
still a fair amount of buds but there’s also a green hue to it now. The leaves are coming on...and off. These aren’t nice shady leaves like on a
maple tree. These are ‘tree feathers’ and they fall off with the slightest
breeze. The last few days I’ve swept
tree feathers off the patio rug a couple times a day so we don’t track them in
the trailer. We had the same type of
tree over in site #35 except it kept dropping teeny tiny twigs in our hair
along with its feathers. So if we
reserve this space again next year, we’re going to have to remember that tree
feathers will be falling everywhere.
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On my walk today I veered off into a field
because I saw a big barrel cactus with brilliant yellow fruit on top. I got sidetracked by another one...the fruit
had fallen off of a smaller barrel onto the
ground and I was curious about the
fruit. I picked up one of them to take back to camp. On my way back to the road I noticed one that
had fallen over but still its bright yellow fruit attached. Mentioned to Kim that it must have been a
recent fall over because the fruit was still on. He suggested that even though the cactus had
fallen over maybe it was capable of sustaining the fruit because of the amount
of water a cactus can hold. Hadn’t
thought of that...seems very likely. My
google search didn’t produce any results specific to how long the barrel cactus
could continue to sustain its fruit after falling over but I did get general
information from several sites:
*Barrels have a center root stem that feeds
all the water and nutrition up into the storage pulp of the barrel. If this
stem is damaged the barrel will probably not survive. Large barrel cacti (over
3 feet tall) often get too heavy and the root system can't support them when
they begin to lean too much. Sometimes the root stem breaks off or pulls out of
the cactus -will see a hole in the center bottom of the barrel (cactus will die
no matter what) and sometimes the root stem stays up in the cactus and the
roots pull out of the ground.
-----
*Plants naturally grow toward the sunlight.
The barrel cactus grows southward toward the sun so much that it practically
lies over on one side. If the cactus is otherwise healthy, this is not a danger.
-----
*Every living thing requires water, but a
cactus is just well-designed to survive without a lot of water, plus it uses
what water it does have much more efficiently than other plants. Because it has
no leaves, it doesn’t give up its water through evaporation as easily as other
plants. Its stems are thick with a lot of room for storing water, and with a
protective covering that keeps the stored water inside. Some cactus species
can go for two years without water.
Since I didn’t think to look at the root system of the fallen
cactus I don’t know if the center root stem was still attached. According to the underlined passage in the
last paragraph, in theory it seems that if it has enough water stored, a fallen
barrel cactus might continue to produce fruit for a year or two. Also read where the fruit of the barrel cactus
can be eaten raw or cooked...both flesh and little black seeds. The taste is a
little tart, somewhere between a lemon and a kiwi. Ah, no thanks!
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We went for a
leisurely bike ride today. Saw a high of
86o...it’s definitely shade seeking time when I’m just sitting but
it felt good when on the bike. First
stop was gas in Eloy; then we headed to Coolidge and from there we did the Tom
Mix/Park Link Drive loop. Reverse of the
ride I took the other day. I haven’t
burned yet because I’ve been using sunscreen...Kim, on the other hand, is
showing a lot of red on his arms. The
red will be tan in a few days.
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I received a reply
from my email of last night; however, it didn’t exactly answer my question but
it did tell me something I hadn’t known.
My email:
Hi, I'm from Michigan and for the last 5 years have come out to
Arizona for 4 to 5 weeks, staying mostly in the Picacho/Eloy area.
I just read your article from
Dec. 2016...Demystifying the Saguaro. I enjoyed the article but it didn't
answer my question. The best I can do is attach pictures of what I'm
asking about...I don't know how to describe it but I've seen it a time or two
and wonder what causes this variation.
His reply:
The exterior of a Saguaro reflects exactly the interior skeletal
structure of the "bones" of the cactus...... If you were to peel away
the flesh of the cactus you'd see a wood skeletal structure underlying exactly
what you'd removed....
I think it's awesome you are observant enough to notice this and
have taken the time to reach out.....I hope this helps answer your question.
Cory
I sent a
follow-up question which I hope spoke more clearly to what I was asking. Hope he answers again....
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Earlier in the week we did a recon in the
area where we’ll be doing some scorpion hunting. We’ve had success with a group of boards near
a bush...still there. Kim also found a
couple pieces of rubber nearby that looked hopeful. Really anything laying on the ground can be a
hiding place for a scorpion.
There
were a couple of thin cirrus clouds in the sky tonight; Kim was waiting to see
if they would move on so he could image.
In the meantime we decided to go searching for a scorpion or two. Walking in the dark isn’t my favorite
activity. The black light flashlights are great for spotting scorpions but don’t
do anything for providing light to walk; but with the moon heading on full and
Kim’s headlamp it wasn’t too scary.
We
turned over all the boards...nothing. We
turned over the pieces of rubber...nothing.
Just as we’re ready to leave, I noticed a small inconsequential board
laying by itself and said, “Oh, let’s just turn this one over, just in case...”
and Bingo! there was a scorpion!! First
time out this year and we scored. Got
some pictures and a short video. Then we
headed back to camp so Kim could get out to image. The clouds had moved on.
He didn’t stay out by the telescope too
long...the moonlight that was so helpful in lighting our walk wasn’t so helpful
when trying to image.
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Bike
miles today: 98
Total
miles: 801
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