Big Country

And lots of cacti 🌵

Happy Friday!

I am just back from a trip to Arizona in the US for a second Christmas celebration with my husband’s family as we spent actual Christmas with my family in the UK.

During the trip, we were able to fit in a lot of precious family time; as well as a fair amount of hiking. And despite having no photographic evidence to support this, I did manage to see a road runner and a coyote, but not at the same time.

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I am looking forward to putting together some more posts about the trip, but for now, I wanted to talk all about cacti because I have become obsessed with them.

You can find several species of cacti in Arizona and they are perhaps one of the most distinctive plants in the Southwest. My husband’s parents live in a retirement community and so while there are no carefully tended lawns (unless you are on a golf course), you can find an assortment of desert flora in gardens, including lots of my new favourite plant.

Here are a few snaps that I took without getting too close:

Pancake prickly pear

Violet prickly pear

I am not sure what this type of cactus is!

Desert prickly pear

And my personal favourite, the mighty saguaro. These remarkable plants have a long lifespan (often 100 years+) and are the largest cactus in the US. They feature prominently in indigenous folklore and are celebrated through rainmaking celebrations, but they are also used for carrying water, and can be made into various products such as wine and jam. On this trip, I stuck to the grape variety of wine, but I am curious to know what cactus wine tastes like.

Saguaro’s are a protected species in Arizona and so harming or damaging a saguaro can lead to a prison sentence. One tragic tale involved a man who died after shooting a saguaro (known as cactus plugging). At some point, a damaged arm of the cactus fell on the man and not only killed him, but also crushed his car. Yikes. Again, I will never understand the relationship between America and its guns.

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Thanks for stopping by TBOI. And one last thing, if you like this post please give it a ❤️, or consider sending it to a friend. And as ever, if there is anything that you would like to share in the comments, please do!

Until next time!

Best,

Sarah