Prickly Pear Cactus

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Every day, no matter how hot it gets, (105°F once) my two youngest and I go for a walk through the park we are camping in. We pick a direction and head off to see what we can see. There are many edible plants in the area. One of my favorites is the prickly pear cactus. Not in this stage, however. In this stage, we stay away from the cactus and eat yucca flowers and other plants growing around us. There is even mint growing here!

The flowers are so beautiful and so painful to mess with! When the prickly pear flowers, the stem of the flower has little, almost invisible, spines that will ruin your day, at least until you get the mini-needles out of your skin. I know this first hand and I learned and made my youngest learn this lesson simultaneously. I took these photographs and then picked the flower and gave it to my littlest princess. I am a horrible human being. No sooner did I hand it to her, I told her to throw it on the ground. Because I noticed the, oh you know. So she starts screaming and I am double screwed because I touched it with both hands and I need readers to see small things and I can't see them to help her or myself. Whew! Sorry for the run on, but thats how my thoughts were stacking up.

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So beware the painful beauty of the prickly pear cactus in flower The cactus is pretty good to eat at other times and it seems to deflate when flowering. Right before it flowers, it is very puffy and delicious. Be mindful of the spnes and you have a great treat, compliments of mother earth!

We have been mostly camping at a municipal park and nature conservatory that is home to a family of bald eagles. There are many other birds that make this lake park their home. There are osprey and my favorite bird, the great blue heron. There are ducks and geese and lots of other waterfowl as well.

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We have been watching a baby eagle grow and learn, exploring the environments and wildlife around us, and even learning a bit about animal husbandry. (Post about that soon.) My girls are getting a world class education this summer and I get to be their guide! I feel truly blessed by our experiences thus far and to the future we have decided to pursue. We have big changes coming soon and I feel very excited and confident of our choices. I will update more often as things are cemented, but, I dont want to reveal anything too soon.

Take care of yourselves and each other and in the words of old Baloo "don't pick a prickly pear with the paw, when you pick a pear, try to use the claw."