Skywatch Friday February 13, 2009 desert sky

We have so many beautiful, clear days here in our desert that I don't really have many photos of sunsets or sunrises. Instead, I DO have many, many photos of our desert scenery with blue sky. Don't you think the late afternoon shadows and blue sky are beautiful? SkyWatch Friday for February 13, 2009. For other sky photos, please visit: http://skyley.blogspot.com/

Watery Wednesday February 11, 2009

A fountain at The River in Rancho Mirage, CA. For other entries, please visit Watery Wednesday: http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com/

Sunflowers! ~~ That's My World Tuesday February 10, 2009

These wild sunflowers grew all last spring and over the summer and there are still a few groups of them every now and then here in our desert southwest. These were on a seldom-traveled road, although I pass a clump of them every morning on my way to school. Aren't they pretty, considering it's the middle of winter? My world for Tuesday, February 10, 2009.

Scenic Sunday February 8, 2009 fence post

I love finding fields with fence posts in them and this one was at the Coachella Valley Preserve on Washington Street. If you enlarge it you can see our mountains behind it, covered with clouds. While it was cloudy yesterday, there were occasional breaks in the clouds giving us just enough of a glimpse of blue sky to believe that yesterday's storm was breaking. Our mountains received fresh snowfall and we need that here in our desert, since we get our water from both the Colorado River and our huge underground aquafer from snow runoff. A beautiful day for Scenic Sunday!

Thermal date grove February 7, 2009

My last post showed how the farmers irrigate the grape vineyards. Last night I drove home through the date groves. This is how they irrigate them. They flood the groves and the water travels along long rows. It's similar to the vineyards, but a LOT more water is used. In fact, when I walked out to take these photos, I sunk into mud in an area that I thought was dry! It's just that the water spreads out. The date palms need DEEP watering and this is how the farmers do it.

Grape vineyard~~Watery Wednesday~~Feb. 4, 2009

While driving home from school last week, I went a different route and found this field watering its grapes. I could actually hear the water bubbling up through the irrigation lock. It was the only noise in the field. It was absolutely quiet out there except for the bumping and gurgling of the water~ How peaceful~ For other watery photos, please visit: http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com/

Date orchard That's My World for Tuesday, February 3, 2009

My world, the southern California deserts, consists of many date orchards. Of course, there are fewer now than 30 years ago, but at the lower end of the Coachella Valley, you can still find them. This one is out in Thermal. Every morning I used to pick up a fellow teacher a few years ago and we would carpool to school and pass many fields and date groves. Unfortunately, many of the groves which were close to La Quinta are now housing developments and the farmers have had to relocate further down the valley, toward the Salton Sea. A date palm nursery was just down the street, so I stopped and took a couple of photos there, too. It was pretty with the afternoon light shining down through the trees. For more glimpses into different worlds, please visit: http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/