It’s a beautiful Friday the 13th and so I thought I’d take advantage of these fleeting moments of spring before every day starts pressing into the 100’s and walk to lunch. Along the way, I had time to stop and look at some of the details missed as we drive by with windows uptight and the air-conditioning on. This particular bloom is on the Prickly Pear cactus. If you look close on the top right of the paddle you’ll see some white fuzzy stuff, that’s evidence of cochineal bugs. This particular scale insect has a larger-than-life reputation and yet very few people even know what it is; it is the source of natural red dye!

It was nearly two miles to the Mexican restaurant three of us were meeting up at noon. My path took me through the Scottsdale Airpark and out along a main street that was fairly devoid of life besides what cruises by in cars. Prior to reaching that road though I got to ogle the well-manicured landscapes of these small corporate offices. I tried finding what type of particular cactus this was prior to posting it so I could share its name, but Bing and Google let me down.

So much is in bloom, just ask anyone who’s suffering from a wicked case of seasonal allergies. Walking out here only makes me think that we have this work scheduled short lunch thing all wrong. We should all have extended lunch breaks where we can take a long walk and feel healthier for the effort instead of racing the clock. I’m not complaining really, as I’m the boss and can effectively do as I please, but still, I wish all of us had this flexibility.

The early buds of the Saguaro cactus are still days away from blooming. On another specimen, sap was dripping from the buds and crystallizing much like the trichomes on the marijuana plant. My walk took just under 40 minutes so I arrived early and just kept walking to get my step count even higher before indulging in what was probably too many tortilla chips. How can someone go for Mexican food and avoid the chips? Damned diets.