Today's Flowers - Aloe

Aloe is one of the easiest plants to grow in my desert garden.

They're one of the few ornamental plants that javelinas (wild pig-like animals) won't munch on.

These succulents thrive during drought, though the leaf tips often dry out and curl.

There are hundreds of species of Aloe, most are native to Africa. The ones in my yard are sometimes referred to as Aloe vera, but I'm not sure if they are.

No matter what they're called, hummingbirds love them.


To see more flowers from around the world, visit Today's Flowers hosted by:Luiz Santilli, Denise Gullickson, Laerte Pupo and Valkyrien.

Shadow Shots - Little Dog

I saw this cute little dog at the nursery the other day. I took its picture hoping to catch a shadow shot and was satisfied with this one.

I don't know much about small dogs, but the shadow looks like some kind of Terrier to me. If anyone knows the breed, feel free to say so in the comments.


This last picture isn't a shadow shot, but if you look closely you can see the dog was wearing a bandanna with turkeys on it in celebration of the fall season and Thanksgiving. Have a nice weekend!

click any photo to enlarge

To see more shadows, visit Hey Harriet's Shadow Shot Sunday.

Weekend Reflections - Birdbath

I enjoy taking pictures of reflections in water, but they can be a challenge to find here in the desert. However, today I noticed a pleasant surprise in the birdbath in my patio.

It wasn't a reflection of a bird, although it would be nice to capture one sometime.

When I zoomed in, I noticed my neighbor's tree has lemons on it. So my weekend reflection is lemons in the birdbath.

For more entries with reflections, visit Weekend Reflections, hosted by James.

Today's Flowers - Pink

This unusual tree is blooming in front of a Tucson, AZ nursery on Sabino Canyon Road. From a distance it almost looks like a cherry blossom tree.

But this is late autumn, not springtime.

The bark of the tree is bright green.

Huge blossoms, about the size of your hand, resemble lilies more than cherry blossoms.
And, the trunk has big spikes on it!

The nursery wasn't open so I searched online.

It looks like a Silk Floss Tree (Ceiba speciosa) also called Kapok in the Baobab family.

A tropical tree native to Brazil and Argentina growing in the Sonoran Desert!

To see more flowers from around the world, visit Today's Flowers hosted by:Luiz Santilli, Denise Gullickson, Laerte Pupo and Valkyrien.

Ruby Tuesday - Mobile Cafe

Here is Peddler on the Path Mobile Cafe parked downtown for El Tour de Tucson bike race. This mobile coffee bar is a converted 1960's mail truck that caters to cyclists at the Rillito River bike path and travels to local farmers' markets and special events.

In this picture, I like the ruby colored wheels as well as the OPEN sign hanging from the bike, and part of the red fire truck behind the cafe. To see more red-themed Ruby Tuesday posts, visit Mary T. at Work of the Poet.

My World - El Tour de Tucson

Over 8000 cyclists participated in this year's El Tour de Tucson. I was not one of them. For me it's thrilling enough just to be a spectator. The 109-mile bike race started downtown at 7:00 AM.


Most of the course was on paved roads, but eight miles into the course, the riders had to get off their bikes to cross the dry Santa Cruz River.
A mariachi band entertained the cyclists as they carried their bikes across dusty dirt path.
At the 48-mile point, riders had cross Sabino Creek which was also dry.

Heading up Sabino Canyon Road

Turning onto Sunrise Drive

Only 59 more miles to go to the finish line.

This is where we said good-bye. The participants enjoyed sunny warm weather for most of the race.

Click on the My World icon above to check out other posts from around the world. MyWorld Tuesday is hosted by: Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy, Louise and Sylvia.

Shadow Shots - Cyclists

A few cyclists riding through the Sabino Canyon area during El Tour de Tucson bike race yesterday:




To see more Shadow Shot Sunday posts, visit Hey Harriet.

Morning Reflections

To see other people's reflections, visit James at Weekend Reflections.

Skywatch - Sweet Sunset

Yesterday afternoon at the track, the clouds over the mountains to the northeast were looking like a stylized sunset.
The clouds turned pink briefly before fading away.
Meanwhile, the real sunset was taking place in the opposite direction, to the southwest.
On the way home, a delicate sliver of the moon appeared beyond the mesquite and juniper trees.
To see sky pictures posted by others from around the world, visit Skywatch Friday hosted by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy, Louise and Sylvia.

Portals of Discovery

"Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions.
All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

As long as the world is turning and spinning, we're gonna be dizzy
and we're gonna make mistakes. ~Mel Brooks

Freedom is not worth having if it does not include
the freedom to make mistakes. ~Mahatma Gandhi

It was when I found out I could make mistakes
that I knew I was on to something. ~Ornette Coleman

"Mistakes are the portals of discovery." ~James Joyce

Ruby Tuesday - Little Things

I have little bits of the color red to share from the butterfly exhibit at Tucson Botanical Gardens. Both local and tropical plants and butterflies live inside the warm greenhouse.

"The butterfly is a flying flower,
The flower a tethered butterfly."
~Ponce Denis Écouchard Lebrun


"Just living is not enough," said the butterfly,
"one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower."
~Hans Christian Anderson

"This magnificent butterfly finds a little heap of dirt and sits still on it;
but man will never on his heap of mud keep still." ~Joseph Conrad

"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough." ~Rabindranath Tagore

"Beautiful and graceful, varied and enchanting, small but approachable, butterflies lead you to the sunny side of life. And everyone deserves a little sunshine." ~Jeffrey Glassberg

Ruby Tuesday is a fun photography meme where participants post pictures featuring a little or a lot of the color red. To see more posts from around the world, visit Ruby Tuesday at Work of the Poet hosted by Mary T.