Traffic cop cactus

©2015 Lydia Hinshaw

Saguaro cactus

 TUCSON, AZ -- We began a month-long housesit here Friday, looking after a cat, who is rarely seen, and a dog, who is usually moping because his humans have left on vacation.  We hope to cheer him up soon.

 Thursday, before we reported to work, we drove out to the western section of the Saguaro (pronounced SWAR-o) National Park, a preserve for the giant cacti like the one above.  According to what we learned, a cactus like this doesn't begin to grown "arms" until it is about 75 years old, and that saguaros can live as long as 200 years.

 This particular cactus was unusual in that it was unblemished, at least from this direction.  All sorts of birds peck holes and build homes inside the cacti, so most of the larger ones are pockmarked.

 In the city, saguaros are used in landscaping, in fact we have several in the back yard of the house we're sharing with the dog and cat.