Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt. John Muir (1838-1914). Scottish-American immigrant, who gave up work as a wagon wheel maker to become an environmental philosopher. Muir co-founded the Sierra Club, and is known as “Father of the National Parks.” [Via Gina Mure’]
A Thin Thread of Blue-Green Waters
Before western “civilization” industrialized the transportation of water to our normally-arid region, indigenous peoples in these dry lands lived where nature chose to hydrate the landscape. In one very special case, the terrain was shaped by ocean sedimentation, upheaval, and erosion to form an almost inaccessible canyon-channel with sufficient elevation change to form magical waterfalls […]
Photo of the Day: Cholla Blossom
Thanks to Keri Kirby for today’s Photo of the Day. I think this is a “pencil cholla,” aka cylindropuntia arbuscula, but with more than twenty cholla species in the Southwest I’d need an expert to confirm. Interestingly, botanist used to classify cholla as a subspecies of prickly pear (Opuntia genus). The middle elevations of the […]