This is another of the photos I took in 2005 on our Alaskan adventure tour. We took the airline from LAX via Portland, OR to Anchorage. We boarded a dome car on the Alaskan Railroad and rode to Denali and then to Fairbanks the next day. This is along the Nenana River just out of Denali on the way to Fairbanks. Click on the image to enlarge.
One of the highlights of our trip to Alaska in 2005 was to see a dog sled team doing their thing. A ranger would pull out a sled on a fairly smooth track (no snow in July in Denali) and the dogs – about 20-30 of them – would commence barking noisily – TAKE ME TAKE ME! The rangers assembled a team of five dogs and one of them got on the sled and drove the eager team around about a quarter mile course at full speed. These dogs were wonderful to watch as the enthusiastically did what they apparently love to do. Click on the image to enlarge.
This is one of four cereus cactus flowers in bloom this morning. This time of year. one or more of these opens every day. Within hours the flowers wilt, eventually fall off leaving a portion of the stem that will grow into the fruit of this cactus. Click on the image to enlarge (notice the pollinator inside).
I’m not sure about the name of these tiny orchids, but they come in purple, yellow, red and this shade of persimmon. I have had all four come out on our California patio this year. They grow from stems that extend out of the leaves and form clusters of several inch-wide flowers. Click on the image to enlarge.
I apologize for posting two cartoons in a row, but this Ramírez rendering seemed to me to be apropos to the intolerable situation in Arizona . . .
If ever there was a Swamp Creature, it’s Corrupticrat Charlie Rangel (D – Swamp) . . .
Via The Patriot Post.
Last year, I posted a photo of this echeveria succulent on the patio. Then, it had fewer of the colorful little flowers. I guess it likes it here. I probably got this at the local garden shop last year.
Desert Tropicals describes the echeveria genus:
Echeveria is a large genus of succulents in the Crassulaceae family. They are native from Mexico to northwestern South America. The genus Echeveria is named after the 18th century Spanish botanist Atanasio Echeverria Codoy. Several of these species are outstanding garden plants. A large number offsets heavily and are given the common name of ‘Hen and Chicks’.
Click on the image to enlarge.