Arizona Beauty

Each fall I get a little homesick for fall foliage and the 1st snow of the season. When that pity party begins, I force myself to remember raking and raking and raking, then shoveling and shoveling and shoveling...

Though the only orange coloring in our yard are Halloween decorations, the weather is heavenly! Green is the color of Tucson's fall, but earlier in the year, we had our own unique desert beauty. Prickly Pears blossom, then give fruit - yes, they make jam from it!
Even the Cholla - the infamous jumping cactus - has spring blossoms:The little Barrell cactus also blossoms then bears fruit:
Tucson is surrounded by several smaller mountain ranges:

If we're desperate for a snow "fix", it's just over an hour to the backside of our mountain range, to pine trees, fall leaves, sledding, skiing, and fantastic pie at the top of Mt. Lemmon.