Thorny Problem

I like spring as much as the next person, but I don't want it to start in the third week of February. But flowers are beginning to bloom in the Chihuahuan Desert.

Closeup of the thorns on a Prickly Pear cactus.

The barbed thorns of the Ocotillo.

Desert flora in an arroyo bottom.

A single-track mountain bike trail through the desert sagebrush.