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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

New Year's Eve 2013 Hike

Tooling along the upper foothills trail
Caroline, who's on a cross-country drive from San Francisco to Washington D.C., stopped over yesterday and spent the night before traveling on this morning.  She brought us a gift of a Hedgehog Cactus and a baby Saguaro.  Saguaros are indigenous to the Sonoran Desert, which is a lower, hotter desert than the Chihuahuan.  I have seen a few Saguaros in people's yards in Las Cruces and El Paso, but they're rare.  I'm not sure what to do with our new baby--perhaps nurse it until spring planting.  Ouch!  That's a thorny thought.
On the road that loops around Tortugas

Tortoise Mountain

Hedgehog Cactus and baby Saguaro given to us by Caroline


4 comments:

Dr. K said...

Those cacti are very healthy specimens.

Scott said...

Packrat: Who's Caroline? (Maybe she's been introduced earlier in your posts, but I haven't picked up on her before.)

We had a situation similar to your baby saguaro many years ago when we lived in Florida. A friend of ours had gone snorkeling in Tampa Bay and had brought back a creature in a 3-lb. coffee can. It was like a gigantic, slimy tongue--no discernible head, sensory organs, anything. I have no idea what it was. Nevertheless, I felt really bad about keeping it in the coffee can (it nearly filled the can), but what was I going to do with it? Kali and I could have driven 1-1/2 hours back to the ocean to release the creature (and then driven 1-1/2 hours back home). Instead, we chose a different option. I didn't want the creature to die a slow death in the coffee can, so I put it in the freezer, figuring it was among the fastest, least cruel deaths a creature adapted to a warm bay could experience. I still feel bad about what our friend (and we) did. My point is, you may have to pay a visit to the Sonoran Desert and "release" your baby there.

Caroline said...

I'm sure you can keep it alive. Of course, you won't see any growth for another 10-15 years....
Thanks for the great visit!

packrat said...

Scott: Caroline, aka "The Ardent Traveler," is Dr. K's sister. That's her link there, which you can follow to some fabulous photos of other countries and their cities.

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