Flowers from….

I received this marvelous bouquet from, are you ready for this, my dentist.  After hours of surgery and weeks of soft diet they were the bright spot...

MWT – Park Ranger at Grand Canyon National Park North Rim

 

I have the Best job in the world! Or so I think.

 

I work four 10-hour days and get three days off. And work is like play for a Park Ranger at Grand Canyon National Park. Plus I’m seasonal by choice, so only work six months a year.

 

Western Tanager

My daily schedule is diverse, from working in the visitor center helping people plan their visit whether here for four hours or four days, to presenting programs about history, condors, geology, ecology, archaeology, paleontology.  I know, that’s a lot of ologies. I call myself a generalologist.

 

Monday I went out on the Walhalla Plateau, after a few office chores.

 

Out at Cape Royal the flowers are blooming.

 

I was there two weeks ago and only saw a few yellow daisy-like flowers.

 

Now I’m enjoying the first of my three days off. Life is hard, but guess I’ll suffer through it. I sure hope you love your job (or retirement) as much as I do.

To view more tours around the world go to My World Tuesday by clicking here.

What’s blooming on the North Rim?

At 8200 feet summer blooms come a little late. Yet summer is certainly here at daily temperatures reaching 80 degrees.

This New Mexico Locust, Robinia neomexicana, is part of the Legume Family and the pea-shaped flowers taste like, you guessed it, peas. But watch out for the thorns.

Hope to get out tomorrow to see what else is in bloom.

My World Tuesday – The seasonal life of a Park Ranger at Grand Canyon

It’s been another amazing season at Grand Canyon from beginning to end as I reflect... (read more here)

Happy 4th of July from Grand Canyon

Sego lily, paintbrush and lupine

Here’s nature’s red, white and blue decorations found on the Kaibab Plateau. (Thanks for the idea Tom.)

No fireworks allowed here, thank goodness or the forest would probably burn around us. And although I do miss the colorful light show I don’t miss the noise and smell. This afternoon we’ll have a parade where water is shot instead.

Happy 4th of July!

Be safe and sane but have fun too.

Diverse walk in the Weavers

I’ve been home in Yarnell this weekend and it feels like summer. (Especially compared to the snow on the North Rim.)

Cactus blooming…

…flowers popping with color.

Every where I turned something caught my eye.

Or caught my pants.

What a beautiful world we live in.

From the small and unusual…

…to a tiny hidden alcove of usual desert plants.

We can look down on the world from above,

or look up at the sky from below.

As life scurries along,

I just want to enjoy it all.

The sun reflects on one flower,

and barely finds another.

The old stalks may lean towards the earth…

…while the young reach for the sky.

And water gathers in the draw…

…providing a playground.

MWT - Berta's Best Beautiful Blooms

Don’t screw with this beautiful lady
Although it’s beginning to feel like winter here last week when I went to Yarnell it was barely fall. The little apartment in the back is where I stayed. I’ll have to post pics of this cozy space.

Petunia, dianthus, impatience and begonia
Berta has an amazing green thumb and many well cared for flowers were still in bloom by her house.

Petunia and dianthus
Of course I had to call her this morning to find out what most of them are.

Purple heart, maybe
This wonderful purple seems to grow everywhere. My Mom has it in Texas and Berta used to grow it in Oregon. Yet I had to google it and this is my closest guess. Feel free to correct me.

Coleus, I think
Berta couldn’t remember the name of this one bought in a four inch pot. We both think it’s from the same family as Coleus. Again, feel free to pitch in.

Echiveria
Some of her plants are overflowing the containers. I love how creative Berta is with her flower pots, using baskets and bowls, or whatever comes to hand (usually through a thrift store).

Oak gall
A lot of oak grows in this area and I’m not sure if it’s the Emory Oak or Arizona White Oak. I’ll have to look closer when I get home. The twigs are heavy with galls mostly no bigger than half an inch that remind me of Christmas ornaments. A gallwasp injects its eggs in the plant tissue which causes the tree to form a gall. Then larva develops into pupa and eventually the adult chews its way out of the gall. Supposedly this doesn’t kill the tree, maybe some of the twigs and leaves.

It was so nice to be home with dear friends.

Only a couple more weeks and I’ll be back for the winter. I’m so ready.

For more glimpses of life around the world, or to share your own, go to My World Tuesday by clicking here.

Zion National Park Part 3 - Virgin River Walk Part 1

View west between campground and Visitor CenterFrom the South campground I walked to the Visitor Center to pick up the shuttle to the Temple of Sinawava at the end of the Zion Canyon road and start the Virgin River walk...

A drive in Kaibab National Forest

Highway 67 north leaving Grand Canyon National Park

The sky changed at every turn.

Forest Road 610 heading east
Left the park and entered the forest.

My how the dust flies.

Which way did I go?

The forest closes in as the road narrows.

Deer Vetch
Saw so many flowers.

Geranium (I think) and Roses
If anyone can identify the above white flower let me know. (Thanks)

Columbine

Ponderosa Pine
The forest reveals many kinds of unusual growth.

Unknown mushrooms
This snag provides a home for many ants. Enlarge to see the sawdust pile at the bottom.

A small pond appears where the limestone creates a sink. Many birds that I couldn’t get close enough to photo.

And I picked up a hitchhiker somewhere along the journey.

Hope you’ll come back tomorrow for more of this adventure and see which way I did go. I only drove about 12 miles, yet it took me almost two hours with all the stops for pics along the way.