Signs of Spring

View of Wetstone Mountains east of the Santa Ritas.

Despite recent cold rains, Spring is coming to life in the Sonoran Desert.  Ice Folly and Tete a Tete daffodils are blooming in my front courtyard.  The Autumn sage are budding, much to the delight of our resident hummingbirds, and the Carolina jasmine florets are glowing like small drops of sweet-scented sunlight.  The curved-billed thrashers are busy performing nest maintenance, preparing for the next brood of my favorite mimids.  Some of my early blooming bearded iris are just putting up bloom stalks, and the roses are blanketed with the emerald green and ruby red of newly emerged leaves. 

The Empire Mountains, also east of the Santa Ritas.

Keith and I walked over to my secret wildflower area behind our home and found the dainty desert anemones bobbing daisy-like blossoms in the light breeze.  These delightful flowers are one of the earliest to bloom in the high desert, their tubers nudged out of dormancy by late winter rains.  Arizona jewel flowers will be in full bloom by the end of next week, particularly since the weather will warm into the high seventies.  It would appear that we can look forward to spring balm for at least the next two weeks. 

Last week, Keith and I did some four-wheel driving over unpaved, rutted U.S. Forest Service roads in the Santa Rita Mountains.  Last December, a jaguar was spotted roaming these mountains.  As we gained elevation, the desert scrub gave way to oak, junipers, and pines.  We found ourselves exploring "sky islands" that were higher, wetter, and lusher than lowland thorn scrub.  We hiked along a strong flowing Florida (flo-REE-dah) wash, passing an old dam and stock tank, enjoying the sound of fresh water streaming down from the mountains as the warm sun melted snow.  We were looking for rare rufous-capped warblers, which have been seen here many times over the past year.  This was our third visit to the area and still we were denied seeing the tiny birds.  Maybe on the fourth visit?



Some of the Santa Ritas' highest peaks.

The old roads took us past abandoned mines, some copper, some silver, and others zinc.  Along a dusty trail to Sawmill Canyon, an area close to designated "wilderness," we discovered another stock tank and a weathered Aero-matic wind mill, still working hard to bring spring water to the surface where it could be diverted to the huge concrete and metal storage container.  The only sound we heard was a soft trickle of water and screeching steel against steel as the wind danced a duet with the mill.  Around us, bright orange Arizona poppies dotted the landscape, yet another sign of spring.   This was a special place, far, far away from the modern world.  It was a place of solitude and peace, a refuge from traffic, cell phones, and television.  We left with renewed spirits, having drawn energy from the earth.

Poppies bloom in profusion along Santa Rita mountainsides.