{"id":5273,"date":"2019-04-26T12:15:59","date_gmt":"2019-04-26T19:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/?p=5273"},"modified":"2019-07-03T10:50:28","modified_gmt":"2019-07-03T17:50:28","slug":"ode-to-the-sonoran-desert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/?p=5273","title":{"rendered":"Ode to the Sonoran Desert"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Note: If your mouse is on or even beside a gallery image, the gallery will stop rotating!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ode to Canyon Hiking in the Sonoran Desert
Leslie Veirs
April, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arizona sycamores twist and turn,
bleached white with geometrically patterned bark
above ephemeral stream beds.<\/strong>

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Always watch where you step.
Septuagenarians don\u2019t want to fall, so use trekking poles to carefully cross streams with slippery rocks. 
Avoid venomous Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes and beaded Gila Monsters.<\/strong>
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A White-nosed Coati, raccoon relative with bottle brush tail,<\/strong>
darts for cover in the Oak and Sycamore woods.<\/strong>
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We pass many Foothill Palo Verde trees with their distinctive green bark.  
Iconic tree of the Sonoran Desert,  
bursting with fresh leaves or bright yellow blossoms.   <\/strong><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Get up early one day and walk through a Saguaro forest at sunrise. 
The Tahono Oldham people believe that humans can be turned into a Saguraro, 
so walk lightly on the land while in the arid wilderness.<\/strong>
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Use your binoculars to observe a Broad-billed Hummingbird with its long, orange-red bill.
\u201cHummingbirds are quarter notes which have left the nest of a flute\u201d (Alberto Alvaro Rios)<\/strong>
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Watch the blazing canes of an Ocotillo swaying gently in the coolish breeze. 
Crush and sniff the small leaves of the drought-tolerant Creosote, boon to many bees.<\/strong>
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Listen to the varied, melodic repertoire of the Curve-billed Thrasher, 
Mockingbird relative perched atop a monumental Saguaro. 
Know that its many songs increase its chances for a successful courtship.<\/strong>
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The Hopi believe that the Greater Roadrunner protects them from evil. 
In classic cartoon fashion, one flashes across a sandy path and disappears into the brush, <\/strong>
carrying a lizard in its beak.<\/strong>

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We search for the elusive Javalina or Collared Peccary,
remembering that it is not a pig. 
We fail to hear it snort, snuffle, sniff, or squeal \u2013 except in the Desert Museum.<\/strong>
.<\/strong>
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Turkey Vulture, black dihedral in the sky, 
circling high, now lower, lands. 
High rock tower hosts. 
The circle of life restarts.<\/strong>
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Spend an hour with several other birdwatchers. 
Follow a resplendent Elegant Trogan down canyon with
heavy telephoto lens making shoulders ache.<\/strong>
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Appreciate the temperature variations and ephemeral qualities of the bajada, scrub, riparian, and forest areas in this diverse desert. 
Value each species and celebrate our connection to this amazing place of bountiful biodiversity.<\/strong>

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Wandering, watching, listening in the wilderness with
dear friends along as guides. 
A memorable time and place.<\/strong>
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Note: If your mouse is on or even beside a gallery image, the gallery will stop rotating! Ode to Canyon Hiking in the Sonoran Desert Leslie Veirs April, 2019 Arizona sycamores twist and turn,bleached white with geometrically patterned barkabove ephemeral stream beds. Always watch where you step.Septuagenarians don\u2019t want to fall, so use trekking poles […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arizona","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5273"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5377,"href":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5273\/revisions\/5377"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leslieval.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}