Friday Night Photos Super Bloom Edition
Submitted by Socialprogressive on Fri, 03/07/2025 - 5:00pm
Welcome to Friday Night Photos everyone. Your once a week break from the daily madness of the crazy world we live in. Post any photos, memes, music, or whatever else you find of interest that helps you escape the madness.
I didn't get out with the camera this week so I dug into my archives for tonight's FNP.
In winters when we get a lot of rain the desert will come alive this time of year with wildflowers. It's referred to as a super bloom. Unfortunately we haven't had much rain this winter and the wildflower bloom at Anza-Borrego has been sparse, so tonight's photos are from the 2019 super bloom.
Comments
Great shots amigo
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enchanted by #6 with the wood pile covered by ??
the bighorns are muy cool tambien!
gracias hombre
Thought is the wind, knowledge the sail, and mankind the vessel.
-- August Hare
Hi, Q
I think the wood pile was an interwoven root from a tree somebody had hauled out there and leaned up against the rock. It was most definitely out of place.
"you belong on a boat out at sea" Tom Petty must of had you in mind when he wrote that.
We come from dust. We will return to dust.
That's why I don't dust. It my be someone I know.
Hi Q
Like you, I see a whole pile of different animals on top and in those roots.
I enjoyed your and Social's musical selections.
Nice Tracy Chapman selection, Janis
We come from dust. We will return to dust.
That's why I don't dust. It my be someone I know.
Hi Social,
It looks like you also had animals in your mind when photographing. The cactuses look like a bunch of giraffes to me.
I am just barely home from 2 weeks away, arriving last evening welcomed home by my landline power cord hanging less than a yard above ground and just beside the walkway down to my entrance. Oh well, to be dealt with. Hopefully, I’ll have a photo or two next week.
What an amazing place Anza-Borrego looks to be. The landscape photos look so inviting at that time.
I hope you and all are well
Hi, Janis
Welcome back. Hope you had an enjoyable trip. Bummer you have to fix your phone line.
You're not the first one to think the cactus looked like a giraffe. Looking forward to your photos next Friday.
We come from dust. We will return to dust.
That's why I don't dust. It my be someone I know.
Thank you for the welcome home Social
It's always good to be back home, no matter how enjoyable the time in other places and company has been.
I can easily imagine that giraffe was a common association. It must have been what you saw.
...
"It must have been what you saw" ... through the lens. Looking through the lens, and isolating a sight of the imagination is a real treat.
funny, but I thought I saw a prickly pear cactus
.
Welcome back Janis!
Thought is the wind, knowledge the sail, and mankind the vessel.
-- August Hare
Thank you Q
Nice to be back in your company.
Full disclosure
When I took that shot all I saw was a cactus. It wasn't until I got home and looked at it on the computer that I noticed the resemblance to a giraffe.
We come from dust. We will return to dust.
That's why I don't dust. It my be someone I know.
Full disclosure,
I know what you mean ; ). The surprise between what nature presents and the lens can translate.
Hi pixelators
Hi all, Hi SP,
GREAT Borrego photos SP!
What a wonderful place it is. Especially when you catch a good spring bloom. Camped there dozens of times in my childhood.
The 5th image looks like Jumping Cholla. The super spiny one. The spines have barbs and one gets in you or your shoe and the whole segment pulls free from the mother plant. It is a dispersal method. And the damg things seem to jump off the cactus onto you. The genus is Opuntia, same as a Prickly Pear, though looks nothing like one of those, save they both have spines. This is the cactus you most see people covered in. I think there are some good vids on youtube of victims. My vision is too impaired to attempt flower ID's. Neat Bighorn pics too.
Thanks for the outstanding photos and OT SP!
happy trails all!
Those
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
Hi d!
Jumping Cholla, interesting cactus antics, thanks.
https://debraleebaldwin.com/cactus/cholla-cylindropuntia-essentials/
Hey J
Hi Janis,
Sorry I didn't have time to get something last night.... but this looks good...
I have seen people covered, once including my little brother. Damn that was funny.
happy trails but watch out for jumping cactus!
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
@dystopian Man, that dude must
Man, that dude must have nerves of steel or no nerves at all in his arms and hands! I respect Nature anyway, but I would certainly keep a very respectful distance from those cacti. It was wild watching that Bighorn munching down. Whew!
Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.
Cactus, Mr. d!
That was fascinating and entertaining, just your style ; ). I appreciate you relating your life long knowledge and experience of nature, including cactus. I have very limited experience of the desert, but just enough to enjoy knowing more.
Do deer, etc, suffer from the barbs?
Cheers
Hi, dystopian
Thanks for the info on the cactus. I've been fortunate, the only cactus needles that have attacked me were small ones. I got a handful of them when I leaned in to get a shot of the flower at the top of the plant. It was a couple of hours before I could get home and pull the little bastards out.
We come from dust. We will return to dust.
That's why I don't dust. It my be someone I know.
Beavertail
Hi SP,
Beavertail is the one most likely to stealth stab people.
It looks like a Prickly Pear without spines. Big flat paddle like leaves. Magenta flowers. There are little spots on the leaves. The little brown spots are each 25 or more minute spines that you often do not feel until you grab something after the incident, like the steering wheel. They are nearly transparent and it will take days to get them all out. Careful what you scratch in the meantime.
Thanks again the great photos!
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
I looked up Pronghorn Antelope. I always
get them confused name-wise with Bighorn Sheep. Great visuals, Sp.
My favorite is the second photo of the purple flowers. I like the contrast between the flowers and the background. Glad you enjoyed your travels, jb. 
Those cacti are lethal with the spines. We've got a decorative green and white plant here whose stick-like leaves end in a very sharp point. They get pretty big, and if someone falls on one, they've got big medical problems. Anywho, hearing the not surprising talk that NOAA is in the fascist crooks' crosshairs in terms of $$ cuts now. Glad I have my backup storm blogs for the upcoming hurricane season. Hope you guys are well. Rec'd!!
Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.
Hi, obf
I wasn't expecting to see the bighorn sheep so I was pleasantly surprised when about a half dozen showed up where we were hiking.
We come from dust. We will return to dust.
That's why I don't dust. It my be someone I know.
Should hot have been surprising, just remember what the Spanish
called them - Borrego
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Thanks for the spanish lesson, EL
Another word to ad to my list of very limited Spanish vocabulary.
We come from dust. We will return to dust.
That's why I don't dust. It my be someone I know.