We usually expect cactus plants to be spiky, scratchy, prickly, angular — and so they are. But that’s not all they are. Look at these several round specimens of various cacti — Who knew that so many kinds of cactus grew in nearly perfect circles! There’s this:
and this one:
Here’s a barrel cactus in its quiet corner:
and even saguaros, which are tall and have branched arms (and are the iconic symbol of the Sonoran desert), bear circular flowers when they bloom once-a-year.
(Although these are an artist’s enameled rendering, because I can’t fly up for the bird’s-eye-view necessary to photograph the blooms at the tips of the central arm.)
Makes me wonder what other things might still be just as advertised, and yet offer other, different possibilities —- Hmmmmmmm???
I’m intrigued: who sets the photo challenge? Perhaps you might oblige us with a little explanation.
I find your image of the “artist’s enameled rendering” especially appealing; and I acknowledge an affinity with the mind that looks for “different possibilities”.
It’s a wordpress.com thing — and you can access it, as you’re a wordpress blogger. Use this link:
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/
and look through their changing line-up of post suggestions. Once a week, on Fridays, they’ve been suggesting a Weekly Photo Challenge (different theme each Friday). You identify it by making the blog headline: Weekly Photo Challenge: [whatever the theme]. When you post your tags you include postaweek2011 as one of them. Then it’s available to all wordpress bloggers interested in photography and the weekly photo challenge.
What I find is that it stimulates me to do a shoot with that theme (or, more lazily, browse through what I’ve already used), and it also gets increased viewership at least for that post, which is nice. Sometimes feedback from new eyes, or new blogs for me to look at and occasionally draw inspiration from.
Not really a big deal; the explanation is just long.
Point 2: If I could have gotten high up enough to shoot some actual saguaro blooms I probably would have, but I couldn’t; and our friends have this beautiful panel on one side of their mezquite front door which filled the specs. QED
But I’m glad you liked it.
like human beings, for instance?
Which was my first thought too: would you care to expound a little?
(I intuit that this is a discussion that could go round and round as well)
There’s a line in a movie (I can’t at the moment recall its title) about people rarely being recognized for who they really are, but rather portrayed as what the viewer has in mind. Even we don’t always see ourselves as others do – because of that pesky perception thing. We live in such closed bubbles. They’re see-through but we’re in them nonetheless – ah, more circles!
I enjoyed your photos. I love the southwest USA and these made me nostalgic. . . I’m thinking a road trip may be in order! Thanks for the pics, and the inspiration!
Cecelia
You know what, Cecilia? We’re back in the Northeast 3 days now and have seen the sun for maybe, oh, an hour.
A trip to the Southwest? Go for it!
🙂
I think that first cactus is wonderful! And I’m not usually a fan of ‘desert beauty’. Shows you how much I know about myself… 😉
Complexity again! You’re so complex, how could you know all about yourself? And if you did — you’d lose the fun of discovery. (Of course discoveries can be pleasanter or less so — but hey, that’s complexity for you.)
:-0
Wow, complexity does seem to be our theme today, doesn’t it? 😉
You’re completely right; to know *everything* would suck all of the fun out of life. I like a little mystery… 🙂
Ah ha! I was wondering on the random nature of your weekly photo challenges! What fun!
I think random is my nature as well 🙂