Reflecting on Mentors, Revisited

I'm thinking about my family elders who have passed.

As is common for all of us, I was shaped by these early mentors. While I'm NOT a painter, I certainly appreciate art, and the framed painting shown here was created by my paternal grandmother. I've shared a bit about her over the years, including this past post published when my mother died.

My father died recently, of congestive heart failure. And while I'm missing him terribly, he had a nice, long life (91) and was calm and comfortable in his final hours. It's always hard to say goodbye, but I'm reflecting now on all the influences he had on my life over the years.

Dad was a birder. Before he became nearly blind, he could identify most common native Midwestern birds by sight, and he recognized many of them by song, as well.

He was a scouting executive during my formative years, so we spent a lot of time at outdoor scouting events.

He appreciated, and cared about, the natural world. And he worked, played, and volunteered in several capacities over the years to show respect for it, and to help sustain it.

I could go on for many paragraphs about what a great papa and person he was and how much I miss him, but a short synopsis is that he was a very good man. I apologize for being away from blogging for a bit, but I'm slowly working my way back.

Hold tight to those you love, and listen to their stories. You will treasure them when they pass.

Six on Saturday in the Sunroom

My garden is currently "reset" on winter, after one storm dropped more snow in one day than during the entire month of January. I admit it's prettier, and the plants now have a white blanket of protection. I'm joining in Jim's "Six on Saturday" meme at Garden Ruminations, but I hope it's OK if I focus on my indoor garden in the sunroom...



I'm thrilled to see that some shoots of the 'Canova Rose' Canna Lily (Canna x generalis) are breaking through the soil in their pot. (If you see lava rocks in my pots, it's to protect the plants from digging squirrels and chipmunks when the pots are moved outside during the growing season. The rodents don't like to dig through the tough lava rocks.)



Fuchsia  'Marinka' (F. hybrida) is putting on more buds.



And there are plenty of edible Fuchsia fruits, too!



The potted Passionflower (Passifloria incarnata) vine that I bring indoors for the winter is budding. I have another Passionflower outdoors, and I hope it survived the bitter cold of January with no snow.



Flaming Katy (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana) is full of buds, too. When open, the blooms are a beautiful bright yellow.

Purple Shamrock Oxalis (O. triangularis) is happy all winter in the sunroom. Its companion in the pot is variegated English Ivy (Hedera helix).



And the Gerbera Daisy (G. jamesonii) is the brightest star in the group. I have to smile when I see these happy faces.

So much to celebrate (in the plant world) indoors and out. Happy Six on Saturday and Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!

Surprises and Striations at Valley of Fire State Park

In my last post, I left off with a photo of Elephant Rock at Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. If you only have time to visit one natural area during a trip out that way, this is a good one because there's so much to see. It's about 45 miles northeast of downtown Las Vegas.

As this sign describes, Valley of Fire was Nevada's first state park, and it included 8,760 acres (now it includes more than 40,000 acres). While we hiked in other natural areas near Vegas, we drove during most of our tour of this park.



There were some surprises during our day, including several patches of Silver Leaf Senna (S. artemisioides). I didn't really have preconceived ideas about the plants we would see, but this one was lovely and colorful against the red rock.



Another surprise was how close the bighorn sheep were to the road. It wasn't difficult at all for me to simply roll down the window and click a few photos of the regal creatures. While I'd seen them before during other trips, I believe this was the closest I've been to them in the wild.



We knew about the petroglyphs in the area, but there were so many and they were easily accessible during stops along the driving tour.



This set of historic cabins was built for travelers with Valley of Fire sandstone by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. The cabins are nifty to explore, both inside and to view the scenes around them.



Another surprise: this petrified log from millions of years ago.



This sign explained its transformation from wood to stone. Other info described it as an "ancient pine" that grew near the park during the Age of Reptiles, about 150 million years ago.

Other fun finds at Valley of Fire included the red rock formations, including Elephant Rock shown at the beginning of this post. Many were marked and named, but I didn't take photos of all the signs.



There were naturally formed caves,



Rock ranges poking out of the sandy soil,



And stratified, striking rock structures, formed from compressed and cemented ancient sand dunes.

Many of the formations resembled animals and other living creatures:



A rabbit?



Some type of alien creature?



A horse eating vegetation?

There were so many amazing views, just a few included here:

The rock formations and scenes were fascinating and awe-inspiring, both close up and wide angle. I'm remembering this trip with great fondness--for many reasons, including the pure beauty of it. Highly recommended.

Hiking Adventures Near Las Vegas

Last year, in late winter/early spring, we traveled to Nevada. We spent a few days in Las Vegas, but we also explored outlying areas--hiking, sightseeing, and adventuring.

Our first hiking trip was to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.



It was a beautiful and fascinating park, with great signage.



True to the name, some rock formations are red because of iron oxide: The minerals in the rocks oxidized, or rusted, over time when exposed to the atmosphere, giving the rocks their red color.



The white layers in the rock are mostly volcanic ash. The many swathes and shapes of rock were created by wind and water over millions of years. Visit this link to learn more about the geology.

For scale, do you see the people in the photo above? Scroll down to the next photo to see the arrow pointing to the people.



See how tiny the people are in relation to the hills of rock?



The rocks, vegetation, bright blue skies, and scope of the place were all stunning.



The desert plants were beautiful, too, including the Yuccas and the Sagebrushes (Artemisia). I must admit, the red rocks weren't as plentiful in this park as I'd expected, but the other areas and elements of the landscape were intriguing for other reasons.

Later, we had an equally fabulous hike at Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area:



One of the niftiest things about this park was the view of Las Vegas in the distance. I zoomed in a bit here, but the city was definitely visible, particularly as the altitude increased during the hike.



And the snow-capped mountain view was wonderful, too. I think this is the Spring Mountains Range, including Mt. Charleston, in the distance. 



The signage, as in the other park, was helpful and informational.

An interesting view of a jet rising up out of the desert.



I'm always fascinated with plants that grow out of rock crevices, like the Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus cylindraceus) and grasses shown here.

This was not an easy hike, although parts of it were level and navigable. We didn't make it to the petroglyph area, because it required significant rock climbing and we didn't want to injure ourselves the day before our flight back home. But the trails we explored were great.

Our Nevada trip also included a visit to Valley of Fire State Park:

I'm only including one photo from that day's adventures for now: showing the delightful Elephant Rock. I'd intended to include that day's highlights in this post, too, but I had way too many photos from Valley of Fire! I'll save that coverage for my next post: Stay tuned!