Beauty and Destruction

We took a trip to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum (BTA) 3 miles outside Superior, Arizona.  Superior is one of those sad, deserted towns in Arizona that evolved from the boom/bust, truck economy of copper mining.  

The BTA, however, is a colorful jewel in the Spring when cacti bloom...the prickly pear, 

the buckhorn cholla,

the staghorn cholla

and all the color varieties that make these cacti a beautiful Spring surprise.  

Maybe the beauty of the BTA was focused a bit because of the waste of the strip mining in the surrounding region or, maybe, just because we had an innate desire for a spectacular afternoon...and wanted to escape a little of the destruction.