A pretty flower of the desert

Hello, everyone.

I was thinking about more walks and strolls to report on, but remembered a little thing that was really neat.

In the hot, low deserts this has been a good year for flowers. Not only little things like sand verbena, but larger things that bloom less often.

 A close look at the flower cluster of the ocotillo, a succulent of the hot desert.

This is a view of the plant's habit of growth.

We had never seen this plant blooming before. Possibly the fall and winter rains were just right this year. Usually they are just a stack of bare sticks out among the rocks and sand.

As it is Memorial Day weekend,  I will close with a line from In Flanders Fields that the photo above brought back to me: "To you from failing hands we throw the torch."

(Pardon the lack of underlining or italics for the title, I have no idea how to do those nice bits while hunting and pecking key spots one by one on my tablet.)