Lightning Strike

Glochids

They looks so much friendlier than regular cactus spines, don't they? Just little tufts of hair...

Ha. They are evil incarnate and go airborne when you move the plant. They burrow into your skin and there is no getting them out. Fun fact: glochids are the active ingredient in itching powder. Aren't you glad you know? I wish I'd learned all this about six hours sooner...

What the Freeway Plant Does When It's Happy

Adventures in Horticulture

"Red Bird of Paradise." It grows along the freeways here and sends out big spikes of orange flowers. If it can survive on the freeways, surely it can survive my brown thumb... right?

Look What the Rain Washed Up

A little good luck emerged from the patch of dirt out on the patio.

Morning Calesthenics

This guy was doing pushups on the patio wall this morning.

Revenge of the Nerds

My new library card: a flaming Transformers-style robot phoenix in space, clutching a book.

Motel Sunrise

Tucumcari, New Mexico.

Saturday Afternoon

Windchimes
Walkway

Bug on a tug toy
Who you lookin' at?

On to Minnesota

Prairie Stars, at Prairie Star Wind Farm. Swayback barn.

The Jolly (ho-ho-ho) Green Giant.

Obligatory road-trip camel sighting.

Mitchell Corn Palace

Every year since 1892, the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD, has been decorated with art made from corn. Here's the Corn Palace in corn mozaic:
And here's a more conventional view:

It's really quite impressive. Here's Chief Crazy Horse.

Still a work in progress. Here's the paint-by-number blueprint for an unfunished section.

And it's not just a palace, it's a gymnasium! The interior murals are corn, too.

Wonders, Natural and Otherwise

Devil's Tower, Wyoming
Abandoned hillside shacks near Belle Fourche, SD.

Where the antelope play.

Bill Hickock's grave, Mount Moriah Cemetery, Deadwood, SD.
Calamity Jane's grave, Mount Moriah Cemetery, Deadwood SD.

Jackalope at Wall Drug. Wall, SD.

Kids drink free...