when the light is soft after a winter rain
Sunset - 056
Tucson, Arizona USA
Sonoran Desert
Milagro Cohousing
This area of the Sonoran Desert, the east side of the foothills of the Tucson Mountains, is not as lush as other parts surrounding Tucson. I believe that this area was grazed by cattle for a while which disturbed the land, allowing the cholla to multiply and the diversity of plant life to diminish. There are plies of broken glass and old tin cans nearby, evidence of the attitude once held by many that the desert was a wasteland. It can be a delicate ecosystem and I am grateful that some who live here now understand and embrace the unique beauty of my homeland so that it can be preserved.
"Landscape diversity in the Sonoran Desert rivals that of any other terrestrial ecoregion on Earth, with nearly all of the planet's biomes represented, ranging from cold conifer forests to hot deserts, where frost is nearly absent and precipitation rare. This tremendous species, lifeform, and landscape biodiversity is the result of a host of factors: the subtropical climate, continental physiography, bimodal precipitation, varied geology, and wide-ranging topography." science.nature.nps.gov/im/units/sodn/sonoran.cfm
"The Sonoran Desert occupies approximately 260,000 square km (100,387 square mi) of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, including the southern half of Arizona, southeastern California, and most of the states of Sonora and Baja California, Mexico. Bounded on the north by the Mogollon Rim, the Sonoran Desert grades into the Chihuahuan Desert to the east, the Mohave Desert to the west, and the tropical forests and montane forests of central Mexico to the south. Extending between 23°N and 30°N, the subtropical Sonoran Desert represents a continental-scale ecotone between the tropics and temperate zones of western North America. At a regional scale, the Sonoran Desert serves as a transition between the Sierra Madre and the Rocky Mountains, the Pacific and Gulf coasts, and the coastal lowlands of Baja and the mid-continent."
12-13-14 image_2_3
when the light is soft after a winter rain
Sunset - 056
Tucson, Arizona USA
Sonoran Desert
Milagro Cohousing
This area of the Sonoran Desert, the east side of the foothills of the Tucson Mountains, is not as lush as other parts surrounding Tucson. I believe that this area was grazed by cattle for a while which disturbed the land, allowing the cholla to multiply and the diversity of plant life to diminish. There are plies of broken glass and old tin cans nearby, evidence of the attitude once held by many that the desert was a wasteland. It can be a delicate ecosystem and I am grateful that some who live here now understand and embrace the unique beauty of my homeland so that it can be preserved.
"Landscape diversity in the Sonoran Desert rivals that of any other terrestrial ecoregion on Earth, with nearly all of the planet's biomes represented, ranging from cold conifer forests to hot deserts, where frost is nearly absent and precipitation rare. This tremendous species, lifeform, and landscape biodiversity is the result of a host of factors: the subtropical climate, continental physiography, bimodal precipitation, varied geology, and wide-ranging topography." science.nature.nps.gov/im/units/sodn/sonoran.cfm
"The Sonoran Desert occupies approximately 260,000 square km (100,387 square mi) of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, including the southern half of Arizona, southeastern California, and most of the states of Sonora and Baja California, Mexico. Bounded on the north by the Mogollon Rim, the Sonoran Desert grades into the Chihuahuan Desert to the east, the Mohave Desert to the west, and the tropical forests and montane forests of central Mexico to the south. Extending between 23°N and 30°N, the subtropical Sonoran Desert represents a continental-scale ecotone between the tropics and temperate zones of western North America. At a regional scale, the Sonoran Desert serves as a transition between the Sierra Madre and the Rocky Mountains, the Pacific and Gulf coasts, and the coastal lowlands of Baja and the mid-continent."
12-13-14 image_2_3