Beware The Cactus Patch

 

A blooming patch of prickly pear cactus in our front yard.

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2023: Sorry, no post on this day.
2022: Sorry, no post on this day.
2021: Sorry, no post on this day.
2020: Sorry, no post on this day.
2019: Sorry, no post on this day.
2018: Morning In The Panhandle
2017: When Things Were Still Normal
2016: Cake In The Morning
2015: Even More Beauty Is On Its Way
2014: Light, Bright, And Airy
2013: How To Get Rid Of A Pain In The Ass
2012: Working Together, The Democratic Way
2011: Teams Take A Day Off
2010: The King And Queen Of Sun And Sand
2009: Popeye Would Love This Stuff
2008: From The Confines Of The Hampton Inn
2007: When I Grow Up, I Want To Be…
2006: Fire Water
2005: Ed Having Fun With Photoshop

Pretty, But You Don't Want To Get Too Close

 

The blooming barrel cactus outside my living room window.


There are many types.

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2023: Sorry, no post on this day.
2022: Sorry, no post on this day.
2021: Sorry, no post on this day.
2020: Sorry, no post on this day.
2019: Sorry, no post on this day.
2018: Escort Service
2017: Comforting Souls
2016: Get Lost In The Links
2015: Up In The Bakken 
2014: I See A Molasses Sorghum Cookie In My Future
2013: Save Fifty Cents By Staying Away From The Card Tables - Go To A Concert Instead
2012: Zero Tolerance Zone
2011: Flicker Of Hope…GONE
2010: Knee Deep In Training
2009: She Sells Seashells By The Seashore
2008: Shopping At Walmart Is The Closest Some Of Us Will Ever Get To China
2007: Giving Indians A Bad Name
2006: Six Flags Of Horror Fly Over Texas
2005: Snake River

Not A Pear

This is a shot of the prickly pear cactus growing in my front yard.  The entire plant is quite large - about six feet in diameter - and I was surprised to see so much fruit on it, usually, the animals get to the fruit before I can get a decent picture.

Prickly pear cactus has several health benefits, in addition to being made into jellies and candies, which can be found all over this area. 

Someone visiting usually winds up going home with a jar of jelly or a prickly pear lollipop for their kids.

There are a lot of recipes out there to make your own jams or jellies, but in the forty years I've lived here I can't say I've been too inclined to do it myself.  The idea of picking out all the little spines and prickly parts is a little too labor-intensive for me.

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2023: Sorry, no post on this day.
2022: Sorry, no post on this day.
2021: Sorry, no post on this day.
2020: Sorry, no post on this day.
2019: Sorry, no post on this day.
2018: Bluegrass Beans
2017: In The Glare Of A Southern Sun
2016: Let The Winds Of Heaven Dance Between You
2015: A Virgin In Arizona
2014: Whichever Way The Wind Blows
2013: Big Shoulders And Tall Buildings
2012: After The Storm
2011: A Constellation Minus The Celestial Bodies
2010: Opulence. I Hyaz It.
2009: Flipping It At The Bird
2008: Eddie Flippin’ Friday
2007: Hope Collapses
2006: You Do The Math
2011: A Constellation Minus The Celestial Bodies
2010: Opulence. I Hyaz It.
2009: Flipping It At The Bird
2008: Eddie Flippin’ Friday
2007: Hope Collapses
2006: You Do The Math
2005: 14,410 Feet Of Beauty

Pretty Purple Prickly Pear

Say that five times fast!  It's Spring in the desert and the cactus are blooming.  These are purple prickly pear cactus with their bright yellow blooms.

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2023: Sorry, no post on this day.
2022: Sorry, no post on this day.
2021: Sorry, no post on this day.
2020: Sorry, no post on this day.
2019: Feeling Tiny
2018: A Small Crevasse
2017: Hawkish Reproduction 
2016: 99 Years Of Cornhusking
2015: Eat A Taco And Be Happy You're Not Having Escargot
2014: Shooting Pool The Federal Way
2013: Cinco De Mayo Came O And Went O2012: No, That’s Not New Car You’re Smelling
2011: On A Triple D Roll
2010: Watt A Work Of Art – Part Two
2009: Stupid Should Be An Abomination
2008: The Fine Line Between Compliments And Creepiness
2007: The Antenna Ball Beneath My Wings
2006: Mexico? Where In Tarnation Is That??
2005: Sorry, no post on this day. The blog didn’t start until May 2005!

Sprung!

 

We came home to Spring in our front yard.  The Santa Catalina mountains are the backdrop for our Ocotillo (the sticks with the orange-red flowers on top), the purple prickly pear cactus with its bright yellow flowers, and, in the background, our pink oleander tree.  

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2023: A Dragon In The Mediterranean Sea
2022: Hallway From Hell
2021: A Grand Old Visit
2020: Now You See It, Now You Don't
2019: Green Sticks Everywhere
2018: Designated Office Space
2017: Desert Garden In Bloom
2016: Agile Cat
2015: Future Steak
2014: What Should Have Been Paul's Place
2013: At The Drop Of A Hat
2012: Passing Up A Little Afternoon Delight
2011: Annnnnnd…It’s Back On!
2010: Rise Early. Work Hard. Strike Oil.
2009: It’s All Connected To The Pigskin
2008: The Sorriest Team Drivers You’ve Ever Seen
2007: Ooooooo, A Contest!
2006: Modern Convenience
2005: Sorry, no post on this day. The blog didn’t start until May 2005!

The King Of Cactus

I took this photo recently of the mountain with the sun setting on it and the moon rising above.  As always, I look at the cactus and remember how small they were when my parents first bought this house.  They've grown so much since then.

These are just two of the ten saguaros we have on our property.  I was reading on Wikipedia that these cacti have relatively long lives, often exceeding 150 years. And although some don’t have arms, the ones that do, grow their first side arms around 75-100 years old. They are the largest cactus in the United States. And their scientific name - Carnegiea Gigantea - was given in honor of Andrew Carnegie.  

I remembered that I had scanned some photo albums last year and dove into my pictures to find these.  This was the house when my parents first bought it in 1981.

The saguaro skeleton is long gone, but the other two have grown quite tall in the past 41 years.  Wikipedia has a chart that helps you determine the age of the cactus from their height. It says a 10-foot cactus is approximately 41 years old, 20 feet approximately 83 years old, and 25 feet approximately 107 years old.  We're looking at some pretty old plants here.  

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2021: The Conquerer
2020: Route 66 Midway Point
2019: Hello, My Little Dumpling
2018: Colorful Confections
2017: The Opposite Of Being Seen And Not Heard
2016: El Ed Rides El Tour
2015: Not Everything Is Lost
2014: Hairspray Is Gross
2013: Breathing Retro Life Into The West End Of A Miracle Mile
2012: A Little Bit Of Wyoming
2011: A Franchophile’s Paradise
2010: 10 Things I Learned On My Vacation In Italy
2009: A Beautiful Deep Fried Pocket Of Cornmeal Dough. Or, My Mom.
2008: A Foxy Furry Little Friend
2007: The One That Got Away
2006: Don’t We All?
2005: Miss Singular

It's Baby Season!

 This is a saguaro cactus (on the left) and an Ocotillo Cactus (on the right) that graces the entrance to our driveway.  Ed walked me over to it, pointed, and said, "Look!"  I didn't see what he was referring to so we moved a little closer.

It was only when I got a little closer that I saw what he was trying to point out - a Mourning Dove in its nest.  It's that time of year.  Everyone's having babies!  

We have one nest just above our front door - the dove eyed us warily with a manic eye whenever we'd go in and out.  But she - or he, as we just learned that the males also sit on the eggs and man the nest and because the male and female dove look very similar, it's easy to assume it's only one bird protecting their young - just left the nest last week after her babies were big enough to venture out on their own.  She'll be back.

Wikipedia says, "It is one of the most abundant and widespread of all North American birds. It is also a leading gamebird, with more than 20 million birds (up to 70 million in some years) shot annually in the U.S., both for sport and for meat. Its ability to sustain its population under such pressure is due to its prolific breeding; in warm areas, one pair may raise up to six broods of two young each in a single year.

We've seen her in the same spot above the door in the past, but the saguaro nest is a new sighting for me.

As I zoomed in, I was able to get a better look at her setup.  In the location above our door, I can't see the nest.  Here, the nest is pretty visible.

In our other saguaro, there's a woodpecker nest, but they make a hole IN the saguaro and wiggle into it, laying their eggs inside.  I cannot see those babies but we can hear them peeping.

Pretty soon we'll be seeing quail babies running around - the quail, unlike the doves who only have two babies per brood, often have twelve to fourteen little chicks running behind them. 

Now they are the cutest things ever!





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2020: Fanned Out Cables
2019: Three Years Later...
2018: A Spring Moment
2017: In The Heart Of Amish Country
2016: A Spark Of Male Bonding
2015: A-MAZ-ING
2014: Ghosts Of Retail
2013: Orange Is The Devil
2012: Sixteen Hundred Miles Makes All The Difference
2011: In Need Of Some Color
2010: 122 Years And Counting
2009: Sixteen Days Old
2008: Racism Comes With A Convenient Handle
2007: Evening Tide
2006: Glittering Pasties And Swinging Tassles
2005: Sorry, no post on this day. The blog didn’t start until May 2005! 

 

Beautiful Freak Of Nature

I’m talking about this saguaro, not my husband. 

Ed wanted to go to the Grand Canyon for his birthday earlier this month. I nixed the idea because a) he sprung it on me the day before when I asked, “So, what do you want to do for your birthday this year?” and b) it’s winter in Northern  Arizona. I’m not driving 5 hours to look at a snowy hole. 

So we went to Sabino Canyon instead and took a tram ride 3.7 miles up into the canyon to look at rocks and cactus. Not quite the grandeur of the other canyon, but something to do. 

And there, on one of the trails, is where we found the crested saguaro. They are a rare mutation. And although not common, one Arizona man has documented over 2,200 of them as of 2019.  They even formed a society to tackle the task. Here’s a photo of Ed, in all of his glorious 46 years, standing in front of the crested saguaros we saw in Sabino Canyon.

This one is different than some I’ve seen in other photos because this one has arms that continue to grow above the crest. Others just have the big crest at the top. 

I’ve been in Tucson for 40 years and this is the first time I’ve ever seen a crested saguaro. That should give you a good idea about how often I get outside. 

The Grand Canyon is still on the list. I think we’ll wait until Spring for that. It’ll still be cool up there, and there might be a bit of snow in The Canyon itself - which I'd like to see - but we’ll have a little more time to plan and can do a weekend in the area instead of a rushed day trip.

Happy Trails!

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2020: Sorry, no post on this day.
2019: Ring The Bell For Tips
2018: Snacks & Bar
2017: So This Happened Today
2016: Agrarian
2015: Tied Off
2014: Seek And Ye Shall Find
2013: Frantically Trying To Get Back To Indonesia
2012: I’d Like Some Snow For Dessert
2011: Getting A Little Carried Away
2010: On A Need To Know Basis
2009: Something Has Gone Terribly Wrong
2008: Flying Into The Sun
2007: Riding The Rails
2006: Keeping Me Quiet With A Chocolate Snap
2005: Sorry, no post on this day. The blog didn’t start until May 2005!

The Luck Of Double Sevens

Yesterday was my mother's 77th birthday.  Lucky double sevens!!  I invited the family over and put on a big spread, much of which was devoured.  

Much of the day was overcast and it rained quite a bit, which was really a gift to me.  It also cooled everything down, if you consider 88 degrees cool.  

While it was raining I took a picture of this little barrel cactus.  The rain must have brought out the color - the bright green flesh, the fuschia spines, and the yellow flower. Wetting it down knocked the dust off of it.  Looking at it today, the only thing on it with color is the flower, the rest looks like a drab greenish-brown blob.

The rain does wonders.

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2018: What Surfing Produces
2017: How To Make A Girl Feel Like She's On Top Of The World
2016: Resting Bitch Face Is Real
2015: No Rooms To Let
2014: Beautiful Brutalism In A Bucolic Bourg
2013: Have A Little Faith In The Romantic Comedy
2012: The Perfect Volunteer
2011: The Men Who Stare AT Goats
2010: A Peek At A Working Team
2009: Alligators Are Not A Girl’s Best Friend
2008: Forget Your Cholesterol. Get A Hearing Aid.
2007: Sizzling Good Time
2006: Amarillo May Smell Like Cow Shit, But They Have Some Pretty Tasty Steaks
2005: List Of Fives

Hiatus

View from our front yard of the sun setting on the Santa Catalina mountains.

Today marks the 14th anniversary of the start of this blog.  On May 7, 2005, The Daily Rant went live.  The posting during the first few weeks was sporadic, but by June 20th, we were daily!  

I love writing this blog.  I found it to be a great tool to keep my friends and family informed about where I am and what I'm up to.  Over the years I've shared photos of places I've visited and written about things that happened on the road.  My perspective was unique - my vantage point was the cab of an 18-wheeler.

I'm proud of what I've done here.

I have been hired for several writing assignments as a result of my writing here.  I sold photos that were published in magazines and books.  My most coveted assignment was the one for The Guardian in 2013.  Not only did that run online, but it also ran in the print version, and my friend Linda in Manchester, England, was kind enough to send me the weekly copies of the actual newspaper.  Someday I'll frame them and hang them in my office.

Ed's knowledge of trucking coupled with my experience and perspective in the industry was used to secure several paying assignments.  We were both hired as consultants on a secret project (had to sign NDAs and everything!) two scientists were working on to improve a certain aspect of truck performance.  I was contracted to write an article for the Go Daddy Garage Blog about questions to ask before starting a trucking company.  And I was also contracted by an online employment firm to be an SME (Subject Matter Expert) to help develop an assessment for truck drivers.  These are just a few examples. 

Some days gathering content for the blog is challenging and I've written about this before.  During times when we were home, or on dedicated runs, it was difficult to come up with things to write about.  We were trucking, but we weren't doing much traveling to write about.  I've filled in with stories about my family, photos of my mother's cat, recipes and whatnot.  And of course, I write about our vacations and travels out of the country.  I may not be trucking during that time, but it's the trucking that made the traveling possible.  It's not just trucking life, it's our life in general.

Well, our life, in general, has experienced a bit of a hiccup.  And due to that hiccup, I need to take a break from blogging.  Don't be alarmed!  Ed and I are just dealing with a few things related to the truck and the business that will likely keep us off the road until November.  I can't talk about it right now but as soon as I can, I will.  Don't worry about us!

Because we won't be traveling, keeping up with a daily blog will be impossible - there's just not that much to write about when we're home and there are only so many pictures of cactus to post.  So I'll be taking a hiatus and suspending the daily writing until we get back on the road.  

This makes me very sad.  I've put a lot into keeping this blog going daily.  Even when it wasn't the best content, I maintained the daily aspect.  As I said, I'm proud of what I've done here.  I'm proud of keeping it up for so long.  I'm thrilled that I have readers from all over the world and I've been so lucky to have met some of those people in real life. 

People like Mick and Ali, people like Linda from Manchester, people like Irene from Queens, NY, people like Gary Goulette, people like Bob and Linda Caffee, people like George and Wendy Parker and people like Marlaina and MacG to just name a few.  Hell, Marlaina and MacG have become such good friends that not only do they spend holidays with us and our family, but we also vacationed with them in Europe for a month last year!  And we still love them!  

So although I'm sad about having to take this break, I'm going to use this time to explore the ideas I've had about changing my blog format.  I'd like to redesign it, figure out exactly how I want to proceed, and figure out whether keeping up with posting daily is even something I want to do.  

I do have an Instagram account and will use that to do a little micro-blogging, with pictures and little snippets about what's going on, so please follow me there.  Be forewarned - there will likely be photos of cactus, mundane daily activity photos, and updates on where we eat.  Maaaybe we'll go for a weekend away and post about that but don't hold your breath.

That said, I will be back here posting periodic updates so please check in once in a while.  If you'd like to receive those updates via email, go to the sidebar on the right side of this page where it says "Subscribe To Me!" and enter your email address.  You'll get new posts as soon as I publish them.

I'd like to thank you for your continued readership and appreciate all the emails and messages you've all sent over the years.  If you'd like to contact me personally, I can be reached at salenalettera@gmail.com.

I'll see you all soon!



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2018: Hangin' With This Chick For Thirteen Years
2017: Twelve Years Of Flitting Around
2016: The Magnificent Eleven
2015: My Baby Is Ten Years Old
2014: A Contented Living
2013: Eight Takes The Cake
2012: Seven Years And Still Ranting
2011: Don’t Worry, Daily Rant. I’m On Your Six
2010: So This Is What Niche Feels Like
2009: The Sum Of Its Parts
2008: Look At Me, I’m Three!!
2007: A Trucking Style Birthday Celebration
2006: A Perfectly Uninteresting Event
2005: The Day The Blog Began

A Purple Native

I'm making the rounds in my yard.  I bring you today's blooming cactus.


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2018: Watch Like A Hawk
2017: Folk Parking
2016: Flashback Friday
2015: Rise
2014: Freshly Dusted
2013: Sockless Monday
2012: Extra Virgin
2011: Eddie Makes An Appearance
2010: Watt A Work Of Art – Part Three
2009: The Clouds And Trees Line Up For Bed
2008: The Shimmer Of The Sea
2007: Indian Gallery
2006: Geography Test
2005: Sorry, no post on this day. The blog didn’t start until May 2005!

Green Sticks Everywhere

Everything is in bloom right now.  Trees, cactus, groundcover.  Soon the white flowers on the top of the saguaros will bloom, too.

The yellow trees are called Palo Verde trees.  We have several in our yard and although pretty, the flowers drop off and blow everywhere.  

Can I just have something in my life that doesn't require me to clean up after it??


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2018: Designated Office Space
2017: Desert Garden In Bloom
2016: Agile Cat
2015: Future Steak
2014: What Should Have Been Paul's Place
2013: At The Drop Of A Hat
2012: Passing Up A Little Afternoon Delight
2011: Annnnnnd…It’s Back On!
2010: Rise Early. Work Hard. Strike Oil.
2009: It’s All Connected To The Pigskin
2008: The Sorriest Team Drivers You’ve Ever Seen
2007: Ooooooo, A Contest!
2006: Modern Convenience
2005: Sorry, no post on this day. The blog didn’t start until May 2005!

April Showers Bring Cactus Flowers

The cactus are blooming in the desert Southwest.  Here's a sampling from our yard.



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2018: A Bit Of The Bubbly
2017: Uphill Chug
2016: That Face, That Face, That Wonderful Face!
2015: We Both Share The Same Blood
2014: My Choice
2013: Pregnant And Dating
2012: They Really Don’t Want You Coming Through This Gate
2011: Deep Down, She Knows She’s A Princess
2010: A Three Hundred And Fifty Foot Long Dream
2009: Dillinger The Horror Hog
2008: Supernatural Hair
2007: They Must Have Been On Sale
2006: Sorry, no post on this day.
2005: Sorry, no post on this day. The blog didn’t start until May 2005! 

Desert Lighting

This is how they do Christmas lights in the desert - ocotillo plants with lights strung through them, and a cactus outlined in lights and wearing a belt and hat.  



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2017: Fresh Snow
2016: Easy To Find
2015: Silver Level Safety
2014: Climbing Snoqualmie With Ease
2013: In Lieu Of Snow
2012: Money Vs. Meatballs
2011: A Window To The Past
2010: A Killer Rest Area
2009: The Barn Man 
2008: Text Me
2007: Eddie Gets Impatient Friday
2006: If You Have A Note, Then It’s Perfectly Okay To Commit Credit Card Fraud
2005: Limo Scene