Description
Higher Calling
Saguaro Blooms and Buds near Aravaipa, AZ
Bloomed 5-18-21
40×50 Oil on canvas
As you gaze at a bouquet, do you ever pause to consider a flower’s purpose? Humans and pollinators are drawn to the allure of a bloom’s beauty, color, and fragrance. Ultimately, however, flowers are about survival.
In the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, we are lucky to dwell among the most intriguing and iconic cactus in the world; the saguaro. We hike through these sentinels, marvel at their heights, and crane our necks upward to see their blooms.
We love to share amazing facts about saguaros with visitors to our state, especially related to their age and growth: they can take up to five years to grow a few centimeters, they don’t grow arms until they’re fifty years old, and they can weigh up to 4800 pounds after a good rain.
Hopefully these facts help people understand how devastating disasters like the Bush Fire can be to our environment and to our human hearts. In June of 2020, this human-caused fire destroyed 186,000 acres of prime saguaro habitat in the Tonto National Forest. This area of rolling hills served as the perfect foreground to Four Peaks wilderness, and was a favorite view of mine. Saguaros that were 100 to 200 years old were obliterated just like that. I will not live long enough to see its regeneration.
After a very hot and dry spell in 2021, our state’s saguaros had a super bloom. Scientists believe that the cactuses knew they were in danger, so they focused their energy toward producing more flowers than normal for a typical year, giving every effort to attract pollinators for maximum reproduction. Simply put, no flowers, no seeds.
In my opinion, flowers in the wilderness are not to be taken for granted. They are barometers for environmental health. They are life, beauty, and inspiration; a simple yet complex design created for our enjoyment and existence.
Ever since I began painting 35 years ago, my calling has been striving to recreate God’s creation. Being in the wild equals joy for me. Hopefully that’s what you see when you view my work. It’s my higher calling.
Learn more about replanting burn areas: http://www.naturalrestorations.org/
Read more about saguaros: The Saguaro Cactus, A Natural History by Yetman, Burquez, Hultine and Sanderson 2020
