Tag: cactus

Prickly Pear

Prickly Pear

Prickly pear are everywhere in my area of California, dotting hillsides and roadsides.  They are really quite beautiful – from a distance – but also a wonderful food source.  The pears are sweet when ripe, with a deep red fruit.  The paddles are also edible, but a bit bland, and are used in making nopales.  To eat a prickly pear requires a prickly pear, a pair of gloves to pick what you want, and a fire or blow torch to remove the thorns, which are long and pointy.  I don’t go out harvesting, but I always enjoy photographing these cacti.  Oh, and before the pears show up, the flowers are really beautiful.

A Slice of Heaven

A Slice of Heaven

I’m trying to reclaim my life in some ways – the hours I’ve worked have been awful, and since changed for a bit more humane schedule.  So, to reclaim my life, it means I cannot let the whiney, lazy me take over and say, wah, not enough time!  This morning, up at 6, coffee, pulled on my stinky clothes from yesterday, and went out, film cameras and phone in hand.  What a delightful thing to do!  No one around . . . the birds were singing their mating songs (especially lovely were the mockingbirds) and flitting about.  Everywhere, the pungent scent of the chaparral’s resinous plants.  The sun was still low in the sky.  As I walked, I looked, and saw . . . a wild rose in bloom . . . quails running for cover . . . mourning doves within a few feet of me.  A slice of heaven!