Tarantulas are...

So here we are on the patio last night enjoying Santa Maria-style Tritip with our OV friends in a balmy 82 degree weather when Jill announced that she saw something moving out of the corner of her eye.  The full moon had just come up over the Catalina Mountains providing us with a beautiful backdrop. It was the night of the "Super Moon", when the moon is 1 of the 3 times this year when it is closest to the earth, so it looks a lot larger.  We all turned to see a very big tarantula moving across the patio.  Ron and Jon tried to steer it away from the house and door because the pest control spraying was just done, and we didn't want it to get in the poison.  Boy can those big arachnoids move quickly!!!  No time for a picture this year.  You'll just have to look at last pic in my blog. 

And our big excitement the night before was going to Tohono Chul Park in the dark with our flashlights.  This was after our dinner in Catalina at Mi Tierra -- Valentina's favorite place!  The park had been advertising that "The Queen is coming!" for about 3 weeks.  There is one particular cactus that blooms only for 1 night a year.  They track the pre-bloom phases and put out email blasts about the expected day it will bloom, Then on the actual day, they post it again.  It was even on the News! 
This year there were enough that they had some blooming for 2 nights.  So off we went, in our closed-toe shoes and our flashlights and cameras.  We got there around 8pm.  There were soo many cars and people--- they were parked for blocks around the park, and lined up in a long queue!  We had no idea there would be this many people.  It was like the end of the movie "Field of Dreams" where all the cars were coming to the ballpark lined for miles at night.  Here is a pic of one of the 300 of them that they had fenced all around the park, the paths lit up with luminarias.  It was a sight to see for sure.!  Without the blooms, they just look sticks.  And they have a beautiful subtle aroma. 

 

Meanwhile along the Rancho Vistoso Blvd. median and street corners, there is another plethora of cacti blooms. This is the main street that loops through Rancho Vistoso -- our part of Oro Valley;  it leads  to our development.  Since the Monsoon has brought us some rain, the blooms are on parade again. They are all colors, and even more blooms on one plant than in April.    Most are different colors of red and  pink in many different shades.  And some are white and yellow.  Here is a sample. 

 

Driving down the boulevard it is hard to watch the road and observe the bloomin' cactus and watch out for the many bicyclists at the same time.  I had to stop for this one this morning. 

 

So, watch out for tarantulas y'all; it is the beginning of their mating season when the males are out -- in spite of all risks and danger -- in search of a willing date. 

Signing off for now,  Peju of the Desert