Morning Desert Amble

I went for a short amble this morning with one of the dogs and one of the cats. The sky was overcast, which is very unusual.  Every day for weeks now has been sunny.  It stayed chilly much longer this morning, since the sun wasn't out to warm things up as it usually does.

A few things I saw on my walk:

Juniper berries, which despite their name, are actually cones.  These are edible, though pretty pungent.  Don't eat them when they're green; wait until they turn bluish-purple like this:

The Prickly Pear cactuses were fantastic:  I love the range of colors,from green to purple, and the textures of the pads.  Notice, too, the color range, from yellow to red, in the spines, and the stunning number of brochids, the tiny bristles that cluster together.  Prickly pear fruit (not shown here) and pads (shown below) are edible, though you need to remove the spines and brochids before eating.  Also, select pads that aren't all wrinkly like the first two pictured below.  Smooth and green is the way to go. 

I also saw some Cholla cactuses.  These critters are dangerous.  If you so much as brush against them, the end pieces break off and embed themselves in your flesh or clothing.  The dried sections of the cactus are beautiful. Notice their grain patterns. The end pieces change color as the fall progresses, from green to bright yellow, to brown.  From what I've read, you don't want to eat Chollas, if for no other reason than they taste bad--super bitter.

The rocks around here are covered with lichen of many colors:  white, yellow, green, orange.

And finally, my walk companions:

The lady with the belly fur who managed to sneak into one of my lichen pictures...

My beautiful, blind hound, who has memorized the track of this particular amble