Tag: Southwest Texas

IMAGES OF SMALL – THINGS FROM THE BIGGEST COUNTY IN TEXAS #662 – Do you have a dream?

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“I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

I live in a place of beautiful isolation. I fall into the trap that I am living a dream. Then at times I am shaken and realize that I have just been sleeping, not really living a dream.

Do you have a dream, are you living it, or did you just fall asleep in the middle of it? en theos ††† jim

http://thebeautifuldue.wordpress.com/2014/01/20/when-i-think-about-martin-i-think-about-james/

IMAGES OF SMALL THINGS FROM THE BIGGEST COUNTY IN TEXAS #617 – Hard to believe it is 93,000,000 miles away!

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“A large drop of sun lingered on the horizon and then dripped over and was gone, and the sky was brilliant over the spot where it had gone, and a torn cloud, like a bloody rag, hung over the spot of its going. And dusk crept over the sky from the eastern horizon, and darkness crept over the land from the east.”
― John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

Enjoy the view, it’s free! †††en theos ††† jimwork

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Photos on the journey #497 – Prickly Pear-The beauty side that sticks with you not in you.

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Opuntia, also known as nopales or paddle cactus (see below), is a genus in the cactus family, Cactaceae.

Currently, only prickly pears are included in this genus of about 200 species distributed throughout most of the Americas. Chollas are now separated into the genus Cylindropuntia, which some still consider a subgenus of Opuntia. Austrocylindropuntia, Corynopuntia and Micropuntia are also often included in the present genus, but like Cylindropuntia they seem rather well distinct. Brasiliopuntia andMiqueliopuntia are closer relatives of Opuntia.

The most commonly culinary species is the Indian Fig Opuntia (O. ficus–indica). Most culinary uses of the term “prickly pear” refer to this species. Prickly pears are also known as “tuna”, “nopal” or nopales, from the Nahuatl word nōpalli for the pads, or nostle, from the Nahuatl word nōchtli for the fruit; or paddle cactus.

The genus is named for the Ancient Greek city of Opus where, according to Theophrastus, an edible plant grew which could be propagated by rooting its leaves.

Enjoy the beauty and avoid the thorns today, it might just stick to ya! ††† en theos ††† jlawrence

Photos on the journey #496 – Bloom that looked like a caterpillar.

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I have been on the lookout for caterpillars. At first glance I thought I had found one, only to find, on closer inspection, that it was just a mesquite tree bloom.

As Mick used to scream, “you don’t always get what you want…but you just might get what you need!”

Peaceout ††† en theos ††† jlawrence

Photos on the journey #483. Horny Toad looking @ breakfast!

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We have an over abundance of the fun Texas iconic creature the Horny Toad. We see two or three of them on most every walk here in the desert southwest. This despite their declining numbers. One never tires of finding them and I never miss a chance to catch everyone of them. I give them a good once over while they remind me of younger days. I then release them after giving them a good belly rub while they feint sleep in my hand.

The short-horned lizard is often referred to as a “horned toad” or “horny toad” because its squat, flattened shape and short, blunt snout give it a toad-ish look. There are over a dozen recognized species found in the deserts and semi-arid environments of North and Central America, from southern Canada to Guatemala.

Despite their spiky features, short-horned lizards are preyed upon by a number of creatures, including hawks, roadrunners, snakes, lizards, dogs, wolves, and coyotes. Consequently, beyond their natural camouflage, they have adapted a pair of remarkable talents. In order to ward off hungry predators, short-horned lizards are capable of inflating their bodies up to twice their size, resembling a spiny balloon. And if this proves insufficient, some species employ one of the animal kingdom’s most bizarre defensive mechanisms: They shoot blood from their eyes.

PEACEOUT ††† en theos ††† jlawrence