Stifling Heat and Stunning Beauty

Nature Inspires

It's the dog days of summer here in the Sonoran Desert and that means that the heat can be brutally stifling.  Like -- you just don't want to go outside unless it's really absolutely necessary.  Or something compels you. 

And in the last few weeks we have been taking moments here and there to slow down and look just a little bit closer at the beauty around us here.  I wanted to share a couple of images that have just stuck in my mind.  Nature inspires while it tests you.

I try to remember:  don't forget to keep your eyes, and ears, and nose open for the little gems all around you each day.  Try to capture them in your mind, or a photograph, or your heart.

Opuntia

This is the botanical name for the Prickly Pear cactus.  What a work of art - the geometry and color, and shadows.  And those flowers!  They are stunningly beautiful.  The raw scent of the desert after a summer monsoon is of this place, where we are now.  Enjoy.

These images were all captured in our front garden in central Arizona the other day.  The one with the feather, dainty and ethereal, was taken by my daughter Sonja, at just the right moment when the light made it glow.

Beauty is absolutely everywhere,

~Miriam