Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Sultry weather

Date: August 1, 2007
Time and temperature: Start - ~1800, ~85
End - ~1900, ~80
Location: Bulldog Canyon OHV area
The numbers:
25 pictures taken
1 air filter found
1 golf ball found.
1 jack rabbit seen

Ramblings: It looked like it could get stormy, but I hadn't been to Bulldog Canyon for a while (over a week), so I had to go out there. One reason I haven't been hiking much lately is the humidity. The weather the past couple of days reminds me of Houston. Yuck. Today I just strolled slowly along mostly level ground. The air felt cool. Still, I had sweat running down my temples. OK, I'll quit whining now. It's just that the desert has spoiled me.


Another reason I haven't been hiking much is I don't like to be out during storms. Getting wet wouldn't be a problem; I carry a poncho in my backpack. Lightening is dangerous. It kills a lot of people in Arizona. The dust kicked up by the wind is also dangerous. People get valley fever from it, which is a fungus that can make you very sick and is very difficult to cure. I can steer clear of rattlesnakes. Lightening and fungus are too tricky for me.


Sometimes I come across something in the desert that makes me imagine somebody sitting at home trying to think of something totally bizarre to do that will really make people scratch their heads and say something like, "What the heck is THAT doing here???" So, not being the sharpest tool in the shed, they decide to take a beat up old air filter that they took out of their car 8 months ago and go put it out in the middle of the desert, far from any road. Well, I did scratch my head when I found it. I'm thinking maybe I need some Tegrin shampoo.


BC_2007_08_01

2 comments:

Lauren said...

Does that pincushion cactus close its flowers at night and open them during the day??? I've seen a few flowers that do that but never on a cactus.

Unknown said...

The flowers actually start closing well before sunset. That's why I have so few pictures of them open. By the time I get out to the desert after work, the pincushion flowers are closing.