#WeekendCoffeeShare Wildflower Wanderlust

February 19, 2017 — #weekendcoffeeshare, gardens, wildflower

desert in bloom

If we were having coffee today I would invite you to sit by the wood stove, which has been burning all night because it is cold, and raining again. This winter has been the best rainy time we have had in Arizona for years. The rain has fallen gently and steadily here this year. Erosion is minimal because the water sinks into the soil when it is not a big sudden chubasco. We are doing better than Southern California, where the terrain is steep, and the ground is saturated with water. The coast is land-sliding into the sea, which is a big freak out. For Arizona, we are recovering from major draught, but are still in it.   The African daisies are in bloom in people’s yards here in the city, and the desert will soon be completely in bloom because of the wet weather.

Please sit back and let me serve you some coffee or tea to keep you warm.  Tell me what is happening in your world and your writing.  Are you making progress on your writing goals?  I am keeping up with my once a week fiction writing, still threatening to break out into more than once a week.  I wrote a dream sequence this week which was fun.  I am also keeping up with my pen pal exchange in #InCoWriMo.  I was happy that some of you here gave me your addresses so I can send you real snail mail.  The month of February is not over, so if you want mail in your box please give me your address here.  I have no reason to share it or use if for any other reason, so your secret is safe with me.

Many of my pen pals have a common interest in gardening and botanical gardens.  I have received cute miniature water color of flowers, and other wonderful gardening themed correspondence.  One of my fabulous pen pals is the educational director of the Buffalo, NY Botanical Garden.  I am really enjoying this exchange.  It has made me think about botany around the country, and the arrival of spring.  Our wild flower and flowering tree season is a super quick flash of vibrant color that increases in intensity in direct proportion to the amount of rain in the winter.  I have both driven through and flown in a small plane over wildflower displays that have truly taken away my breath.  The California desert has some very exotic and super psychedelic plants that bloom when there has been rain, so this year will be a spectacular show of nature’s fashion.  Arizona will be very colorful also.  This has moved me to start checking into Air BnB availability, and think about itineraries.  My favorite spa is in Desert Hot Springs, right down the hill from Joshua Tree National Park, one of the most exotic landscapes in the world.  I love to be there in the spring when everything is blooming.  I have not decided if I will go, but I am starting to dream about it, so chances are good that I will do at least a short wildflower trip.  I could just go down the hill to Tempe, and I could catch a lot of seasonal color, as well as see what is up at the Desert Botanical Garden, which has plenty of blooms itself.

Do you go on botany excursions, for fall color, dogwoods, or wildflowers, gentle reader? You don’t have to be a botanist to enjoy them.

Our weekend coffee share has moved to Nerd In the Brain.  Please join this jovial and talented group of digital beverage guzzling writers who get together on the weekend to share our thoughts.  You are welcome to read, comment, or contribute to the movable feast here. Thanks for stopping by today.

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