Riders of the Purple...

[cactuswatcher]

angeyja asked a couple weeks ago if there was anything that waited for the summer rains in the desert to bloom.
I sort of forgot about this at the time -



It's a sage bush. I think the traditional purple sages of various shades are the prettiest. I have one with darker flowers blooming as well, but its not so dramatic as this one.


School started yesterday for the nearest schools. It's very odd having school start so early. Where I come from, the state government fought tooth and nail to keep schools from opening before the first week in September (just after the Labor Day holiday here in the US) to help the tourist industry. At Ohio State school didn't start till toward the end of September.

I could hear the drums from marching band practice from the second closest high school as I was out pulling a few weeds at about 7:00 this morning. You get used to being woken up early here. No one wants to be out in the middle of the day. Noisy work you wouldn't dream of doing early in the morning back in the Midwest is fine here cause everyone understands. Last week they were using great big cranes to pull giant light standards out of their bases in the park next to me so they could change the light bulbs at about 6:30. Lots of diesel engine roars and metal against metal moans and groans. It woke me up. But I can always take a nap. I wouldn't want to have to do it in the heat of the day either.