5 Arizona Things that People Don’t Believe Exist

“Wait…that’s a real thing?!”

People from outside of Arizona have been surprised or skeptical when these 5 things have come up, but they’re all for real.

How many of these have you seen?

1. Tumbleweeds – Not just the stuff of western movie lore, they’re actually Russian thistle plants. When they’re alive, they’re green and grow like weeds. The dead, dry ones break off and roll around in the wind. It’s not like I have to stop my car for tumbleweeds rolling across the road every day. But it has happened.

Also, the city of Chandler builds a big tumbleweed tree for the holidays every year.

2. Gila monsters – They’re more fat lizards than monsters. Yes, they have a poisonous bite. However, that’s not a big concern, since they’re not particularly quick or aggressive or likely to chase you down (or meet you at the airport). In fact, it’s rare to even see one out and about.

We felt lucky when we spotted a Gila monster sauntering through the shadows at Boyce-Thompson Arboretum.

bta-gila-text

3. Desert monsoons – A friend from Taiwan laughed when I mentioned monsoons in Phoenix. While what we call “monsoon season” isn’t what you’d see in South Asia, it comes with bigger storms and more rainfall than we get other times of the year. Sonoran desert storms are dramatic – and beautiful – in their own way with downpours, thunder, lightning, wind, and dust storms (see #4).

4. Dust storms – If you saw Mad Max Fury Road, that’s not what a dust storm is like inside. Think fog made of sand, and you’ve got the picture. When it’s dry and very windy, blowing dust forms a cloud you can see approaching from miles away. sometimes an eerie orange color in the afternoon light.

5. Roadrunners – Although they look nothing like the Wile E. Coyote’s nemesis, they are an actual type of bird. That runs. Sometimes on roads.

So there you have it: the real story behind Arizona’s mythological-seeming creatures and phenomena, which are, in fact, the real deal.

Of course, the jury is still out on the Phoenix Lights.

sierra-estrella

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Photos:

1. Willcox, AZ

2. Tumbleweed Tree, Chandler, AZ

3. Gila monster. Photo by Blueag9. CCL.

4. Gila monster at Boyce-Thompson Arboretum.

5-8. Phoenix area during monsoon season.

9. Roadrunner. Photo by Ralph Arvesen. CCL.

10. Sierra Estrella Park.

August 15, 2015May 23, 2023

A Mount Lemmon Trip

Mount Lemmon doesn’t have a website.

Which, I guess, makes sense, since it’s a mountain. Although that didn’t stop Mt. Rainier or even Camelback. Maybe the difference is that they’re both the main event in their respective parks. Mt. Lemmon, on the other hand, is just one impressive part of the impressive Santa Catalina Mountains and extensive Coronado National Forest.

It’s right outside Tucson, but, as much as Phillip and I like hanging out in that area, I’ve never been on Mt. Lemmon itself. Tucson is a 1.5 hour drive, and then it takes another hour to wind your way up the mountain, so it kind of requires its own designated trip.

Which is happening soon, because my dad thought we (he, Mom, Phillip and I) needed to take a day trip before Phillip goes back to grad school and ~~disappears for 9 months~~ / ~~can’t do anything fun~~ / gets much busier.

We decided to go to Mt. Lemmon since my mom hasn’t been there either. We’ll drive around, picnic, and maybe take a hike. But probably a short one, because the elevation at the top is about 9,000 feet. That is significantly higher than Denver. It’s actually closer to La Paz, Bolivia’s 11,000+ feet.

Side note: Thinking about this made me wonder about all the high-altitude places I’ve been and how they compare to each other. So I made a little, roughly-to-scale chart. Maybe I’ll do a better one later, where I actually write legibly and measure the lines. Maybe.

Side note to the side note: I’m thinking of titling my chart “Great Heights” or “Altitude is Everything” or “Elevations I Have Known and Loved” or maybe just “Places I’ve Been High.”

Really, the point is that I’m gonna be moving slow up there in the thinner air.

Driving from the Tucson desert to the pine-covered top of Mt. Lemmon takes you through climate zones equivalent to driving from Mexico to Canada.

Mt. Lemmon is one of the sky islands, a poetically-named category of mountains in the Southwest U.S. and Mexico that have dramatically different environments than the areas around them. They have remarkable biodiversity, including plants and animals you normally wouldn’t find in the region.

My favorite is the coatimundi, a mammal that’s native to Central America but also inhabits the sky islands. When we went to Chiricahua National Monument (also sky island territory) a few years back, I got kind of ~~obsessed~~ focused on trying to spot one in the wild. It hasn’t happened yet, but, during the trip, I’ll definitely be on the lookout.

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PS I’ll be posting info from my Craft Camp presentation soon.

May 6, 2015January 3, 2018

Cactus Craft

I keep coming across neat cactus-related ideas and thought you guys would like to check these out.

1. Paper

Simple yet fabulous-looking paper cacti project via The House That Lars Built!

2. Plastic

Plastic bottle cacti by Veronika Richterová. While she has special processes for creating her cactus art, it’d be fun to try making a simpler version of these.

3. Planters

We featured these upcycled water bottle planters by A Beautiful Mess on our Facebook page in a Try Today Friday post, but I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss them!

4. Pincushion

Sewing Lab has a tutorial for a cute stuffed fabric cactus that’s the perfect place for pins and needles.

5. Possibilities

C2C Gallery in Grand Haven, Michigan suggests using cactus seeds in artwork. What they had in mind were Helen Otterson’s botanical-inspired ceramics. (Like Succulent Blossom.) But it made me wonder about using seeds in collage to add some depth and texture.

Have you ever created something inspired by cactus or using actual parts of a cactus plant?

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Top photo taken by me at The Farm at South Mountain. Other photos via their respective sites.

March 26, 2014March 26, 2014

Why Arizona? Because of March. Basically.

March is the reason people live in Arizona. Not the only reason. But it represents a pretty big one, because it tends to come with the kind of gorgeous weather we dream of during the inevitably scorching Phoenix summers.

Of course, I would write that sentence on the day we get a fluke spring dust storm. (We don’t really expect those until July or August.) But still. It was an hour or so blip in the middle of some really nice days.

March also brings wildflowers. Some years more than others, but if we’ve had any rain at all, the desert gets more colorful.

Because the weather is so good, things get busy. People come to visit. Events get scheduled. (Lots and lots of events. They were basically stacked on top of each other this past weekend.) Before you know it, you’re in some convention hall or shopping center or crowded restaurant wondering what you’re doing there and if you’ve missed all the nice weather. Or (in my case), you’re sitting outside writing a post about wildflowers and wondering if they’ve already finished their brief annual appearance.

So Monday I texted Phillip that I wanted to see if there were still wildflowers on South Mountain and should I pick him up after work to go check it out. He was up for it, so we slipped into the park just before they closed the entrance gate and hiked until we ran out of light for photos.

I’m happy to report that it’s not too late to spot some wildflowers in the desert.

Also, the creosote bushes are yellow and fragrant, and hedgehog cactus is starting to bloom.

If you’re here in Phoenix and you possibly can, get out this week – even for an hour – and soak it all in. And if you live somewhere else, you might consider visiting next March.

It’s a beautiful time to find a reason to be here or to remember the reasons you already are.

For Your (Wildflower-Hunting) Information: I took all of these photos (except the top one of clouds after the dust storm) on 3/24/14 at South Mountain Park.