Changes in Saguaro Land

Posted on July 2, 2025 by E.A. Wickham

My husband took this photo of our saguaro with his iphone. It’s amazing to watch the changes the season brings to a saguaro. Here’s a growth chart that I found to guess the age of this saguaro in our backyard. It has its first arm and is taller than 15 to 16 feet, so I bet it’s 100 years old or older.

Here’s another photo my husband took:

The birds are loving the flowers! The flowers look like the inside of a pomegranate. Before the flowers turned red, the blossoms were white and looked like crowns. Here’s a photo when the saguaro began to bloom.

The saguaro with more blossoms. Unbelievable how they turned red!

Here are saguaros I took with my iphone from across the pool, while writing my morning pages. I thought this would give some perspective of how majestic and tall they are.

Did I mention birds? Yes, the birds are always landing on the saguaro and have also built nests inside. You can see the holes in the saguaro in the photo above that have had nests and baby birds. Once a bird abandons a next, another bird may move in.

A White Winged Dove enjoying the view.

A Curve-Billed thrasher on a saguaro before it bloomed.

Two much water can kill saguaros and with our last gardener we lost three. Over watering can cause root rot and collapse. Saguaros have accordion-like ribs and a stem succulent that allows them to store hundreds of gallons of water during rainfall. As more water gets stored, the skin of the saguaro starts to expand to make room for more storage.

To be fair to the gardener we had, two saguaros were over-watered and fell on their own. One was rescued and it survived, one died. Two others were infected with some sort of disease.

We hired a cactus doctor who inspected all our cacti and told us to remove the two diseased ones or it could spread to others. Then we were told before you can remove saguaros you have to get a permit from the county! We had a knock on the door and a county inspector arrived. The cactus doctor had called him. After we got the permit, we were told to hire a crew to remove the saguaro. After the entire ordeal, my husband thought he could have handled it on his own. However, there were two men taking down the saguaro. If my husband decided to do it — I would not volunteer for the chain saw — nor making sure the saguaro fell in the right place by holding a rope around it.

What an ordeal. We didn’t know much about saguaros when we moved here, but we are learning!

What are some special native plants where you live?

Put on the spot

Posted on May 16, 2025 by E.A. Wickham

What a surprise to see this cactus in full bloom! I had to get photos in the morning light.

I was at a board meeting for the charity group that I volunteer for that raises funds for sex-trafficked victims. Unfortunately, the board decided to no longer fundraise for this worthy cause. The reason why? The subject matter is too tough. It upsets the sensibilities of many women. They don’t want to hear about it and deep down they are turned off by it.

Our new year for the group starts in September. I’ve been on the fence on whether or not I want to continue on the board. I brought this up a month ago to our current president who is stepping down from that demanding position and continuing with her role as treasurer (yes she was doing both!) She said, “Oh no! You have to be on the board.”

My job is communications which means internal communication with members as well as outreach to the community. It’s a lot of work. Yes, it’s satisfying, but lately feels like something I have to do rather than something I’m passionate about.

With my new interest in photography and the advanced workshop I was invited to join beginning in September, I’m leaning more towards not being on the board.

At the end of our board meeting the other night, I was put on the spot. The incoming president said, “I need to ask each of you a question. I need to know if you are continuing on the board.”

I really wanted to discuss my decision with the outgoing president before bringing it up in public. But here I was. I was honest. I think being put on the spot does that to me. I can’t come up with an excuse or a nice lie to get through the moment. I could see a few board members visibly upset with me. I explained about my new commitment to the photography workshop and not knowing how much time it will take. I told them I was still thinking it through and couldn’t commit to being on the board.

I drove home feeling guilty for not having this conversation with the outgoing president before a public announcement.

Have you been put on the spot? If so, how did you handle it?

What’s in a name?

Posted on May 14, 2025 by E.A. Wickham

Red perched on an aloe statue in the backyard.

I’m going to share some bird and flower photos I took this week — after my story about a name — our last name to be precise.

We had trouble with a guy living in Southern California with the same last name. He also has an of initial of E — which is my first initial. To top that off, he shares an initial with my husband.

It was years ago when a collection agency called. I also got letters. Somehow they got us mixed up with this other guy with the same name and common initials who wasn’t paying his credit card bills. In the mail, I got a list of overdue bills from a collection agency — in the thousands of dollars — that they tried to collect from us!

This guy is 30 years younger than us. How could they mix us up? Well, I don’t think they cared. Our phone rang every day. The emails and letters kept coming with threatening messages. I kept calling back, sending letters, explaining it wasn’t us. It took about a year of headaches and stress to unwind this unfortunate mixed-up identity.

I googled the collection agency. Other people had experienced the same mix up and relentless calls and letters.

Forward seven or eight years to Monday this week, and I got an email from an attorney threatening to sue us for a $48,000 plus debt from a builder supply store. It was sent to me and one other email address — which belongs to the other guy!

Rather than go through a year of hassle, my husband forwarded the email to our attorney, who is telling them they are barking up the wrong tree.

Now for my favorite photos of the week:

A bird knocked this blossom off the top of a saguaro. I put it in a glass of water on my desk. I’m enjoying the beauty and taking photos of it.

Blooms at the tippy top of the saguaro. I found the blossom on the ground beneath it.

A House Finch captured eating Barrel Cactus blossoms in the morning light.

A Great Tailed Grackle makes his first appearance in our backyard.

Gila Woodpecker on a Beavertail Cactus yard ornament.

Red in the morning light climbing down a watering line from a planter. Wouldn’t it be easier to fly?

Mrs. in the BirdBuddy AI feeder with a real live bird buddy.

Have you ever had identity theft or mistaken identity? If so, what happened?

What’s your favorite photo from today’s post?

Spring has sprung!

Posted on March 28, 2022 by E.A. Wickham

There is a warmth in the air along with the delicious scent of jasmine. Looking around, I see signs that the cold winds of winter have left us. I see blooms and buds on my daily walks. Each day brings something new.