While musing over which photo to use to head up my last post of 2006, I came across this snap taken near Tonto National Monument, Arizona, in 2001. The Saguaro was one of a couple of dozen that, if I remember correctly, had been relocated due to some highway improvement work. All of the cacti had been propped up with a crazy array of boards and cables. It seemed like it might be overly optimistic to expect positive results from such a transplant effort, but apparently, the cacti usually survive the ordeal. And so it goes with many things. Regardless of how messed up everything appears to be, life goes on and things change, hopefully for the better. Today, as I look around at the state of the world, I have to hope that, like the cactus, the situation will improve. In my own small, quiet way, I will try to do what I can to help out.
Best wishes to all of you in the coming year.
Bev, I have learned so much from your posts this year. Nature is resilient and adaptable. So we must strive to adjust to ongoing, inevitable change. People like you do make a difference. Happy New Year!
We have to be the change we want to see in the world around us – we do what we can, and every good thing (no matter how small) has positive results on this dear little blue planet we call home.
Best wishes to you, Bev, and may the new year be full of that which is good and bright and true. Like Ruth, I have learned so much by coming here, adn I look forward to new wisdom encountered here in the coming year.
Ruth and Cate – Thanks for your remarks about having learned a few new things from visiting this blog. There’s so much that can be learned about and from the natural world and I see nature blogs as such a wonderful means of sharing what we know. A happy new year to both of you.
Happy New Year, Bev! That is truly a fantastic photo for the new year. It captures both the insane things we humans do to the planet and the absolute endurance of living things. Excellent choice.
I love seeing the world through your eyes, and even more than that, through your sensibilities.
Bev, the more I studied the cactus picture the more I saw the real beauty that lay beyond the mere hope of its spiney survival. It’s the beauty those jury-rigged poles and cables represent. It’s found in the long, probably hot, tedious and potentially hazaradous day of hard uncertain work for people trying to make their little corner of the world a better place.
Bev, it gives you a good feeling to see that they actually took the time and trouble to transplant the cacti instead of just dozing them aside. All the best for the New Year.
A good wish, and a great photo! I wish you and yours all the best in the coming year.
That’s quite a poignant photo, Bev. I like the notion of trying to improve the general situation in some small way, and that encapsulates it for me.
Thanks, everyone! Yes, it’s kind of a special photo. As Cathy has mentioned, the rescue effort would have been difficult as these cacti are heavy and would be very perilous to work around. I’ve seen photos of ones that have fallen over and done major damage to cars, etc…, so I can only begin to imagine the difficulties of attempting to transplant a group of them. They are beautiful though. The first time I was in Arizona was in late April, and each day, I would rise before dawn and sit outdoors to watch the changing light as I found it and the atmosphere and wildlife activity so fascinating. The saguaro were flowering at that time, and the nectar of the blooms attract nocturnal and early dawn visitors – birds, insects and bats (I didn’t see the bats). If I sat near a saguaro, I could be assured of seeing a steady stream of visitors. I also enjoyed watching the Gila Woodpeckers that make nest holes inside of the saguaro. What an ideal spot – almost like having a little hideout in an armored fortress. Can you guess that I’m missing the desert just a little?