Gotta look where I'm going.

I'm learning more and more about the Sonoran Desert. I take to the desert almost every day. And there's no need to bring my umbrella. Can't recall the last time I saw rain. I'm always here in the dry season. But I'm told the average annual rainfall is about 8 inches. And that when it rains, it's like a monsoon. Big, big rains that flood the roads and leave huge piles of dirt and sand. Guess most of the rain arrives in the summer. When temperatures typically soar to 115 to 120 degrees. A cool night is 90 degrees. I'll take Minnesota cool over Arizona hot. But here I am. In March. And it's wonderful. When I'm not watching the Chicago Cubs play spring training baseball games, I'm walking the desert. Which is full of Saguaro cactus, the tallest cactus in the world and the symbol of the Sonoran Desert. The Saguaro is only found between 1,000 and 5,000 feet elevation and needs warmth and periodic moisture to survive. Successful seeds germinate near a nurse plant which is needed to provide shade and a moist environment for the first 25 years of life. The Saguaro grow arms, so to speak. But it generally takes 65 to 80 years for the first arms to appear. Woodpeckers drill holes in the Saguaro to stay cool. It's 30 degrees lower than the outside temperature. I learned all this stuff on a self-guided tour in McDowell Regional Park. My head was buried in a nifty little informational brochure. Didn't look where I was going. And I bumped into a Saguaro. Thank gawd, I wasn't hurt. Gotta look where I'm going. --Jim Broede