May 10, 2012

As the orange fluffs on the Ocotillos started fading, the stately Saquaro took center stage. Short, pudgy finger-like protuberances started to appear at the ends of the Saquaro’s head and arms. The “fingers” eventually produced the Saguaro’s magnificient white, waxy flower. (I made several attempts to photograph them – but it’s just not possible to get good pictures unless you’re willing to haul a ladder around.) After about a month or so, the abundant flowers on the end of the “fingers” started to develop into ruby red buds. They remind me of the hooked, painted fingers that you see on turntables in so many nail salons. The buds will turn into fruit but again, without a ladder….. …we’ll have to settle for fruit cocktail! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saguaro On the harsher side of desert living, we’ve seen quite a few tarantula hawks. These insects, with bright orange wings, have nothing whatsoever to do with birds. It’s a wasp that paralyzes tarantulas in order to lay an egg in it. The sting of the tarantula hawk is considered one of the worst possible – fortunately, they usually leave humans alone. Ugghh…don’t read this over dinner: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula_hawk I knew attitude adjustment day was coming….and it finally arrived. Travis, our neighbor across the mountain, is our right-hand man whose special expertise is operating a back hoe. Very handy! In any event, I had asked him where the broom was and he went to find it. With the pouring of the cement for our back porch, we’d slipped into a false feeling of security out there. When I heard Travis’ urgent call for Chuck, however, I knew something was up. I ran to the door where I could see Travis pinning a huge, bad-ass snake up against our barbecue station with the broom. This was the day I’d been practicing for - so I grabbed my Beretta and headed out the door. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed; Travis reminded me that the interloper was near a propane tank so snakeshot definitely wasn’t the preferred mode of execution. Travis told Chuck to get the garden spade but by the time Chuck made it back, Travis had done the deed with a piece of iron pipe (in the conservatory). I tried not to think too much about it during the rest of the day…don’t think about the rattle of the tail…don’t think about the huge gaping mouth with needle sharp fangs…don’t think about what you’d have done if you were alone…don’t think about the fact that Travis’ mom, my friend Marsha, said it was the largest snake she’d seen in her 23 years of desert living. \ The Western Diamond Back rattler…don’t even think about it. Disclaimer: There was absolutely no connection with this incident and my departure for home two days later. You can still come out to visit – we have “off-snake” season here. Vic