Friends of the Library Purchase made with Flat Stanley for him to take home with him for Snugglebunny in England.

While I have been there before, but will not be able to take Flat Stanley there in person during his visit to Arizona, Saguaro National Park is in southern Arizona in the city of Tucson and is split into two parts by the city. The park is named for these amazing Cacti, the Saguaro, which have very tiny roots (only 4-6 inches deep), except for one main tap root that grows a few feet into the ground. It grows VERy SLOWly (a 10 year old Saguaro may only be an inch and a half tall), but can live to be 200 years old!

There is more information about the Saguaro Cactus, and some fabulous photos, in this Saguaro National Park link.
http://www.saguaronationalpark.com/saguaro-cactus.html


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This is a Controlled Release for Multiple Challenges being sent to Snugglebunny in MissMarkey's LFLibrary Club Class for BookCrossing Release Challenges...

1. ARIZONA...Oh, the Places We Can Go (Secretariat) http://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/23/539104

2. LAND...4 Elements Release Challenge (Firegirl) http://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/23/540042

3. Alliterative Author...for WK:11 NJABBIC Release, 1st Q (Secretariat) http://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/23/537923

4. GREEN on Cover...for WK:10 NJABBIC Release, 1st Q (Secretariat) http://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/23/537923

5. GREEN, WHITE, ORANGE, and GOLD on cover, and RED in the sunset (coloring on scanned pic is not true to cover color, which has more RED than orange) on the cover in celebration of Grandma KarmelK's new little Grandbaby... CONGRATULATIONS!!! ...Celebrate Irish (spazcat) http://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/23/539497

HAPPY READING! : )

The Saguaro is the largest cactus in the United States. It is a very tall tree-like cactus that is native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, and blooms beautiful white blooms like the one seen on the cover of this book. The flowers it blooms are Arizona's State Flower. The flower turns into a fruit that becomes a food source for birds and people alike, as it can be harvested and eaten, turned into juice, and the fruit and the juice even used in baking! I participated in a workshop at the Desert Botanical Garden a very long time ago (before they got so commercialized) where I actually got to prepare a cake with Saguaro fruit harvested from some of the Saguaros in the Garden! It was GREAT FUN!!! The outside of the fruit is smooth and lime-green, but when you split them open you will see a bright scarlet red color with approximately 2,000 tiny little black seeds inside. Some of the teeny tiny smaller than a grain of rice seeds, will someday grow into a giant Saguaro. The fruits and seeds are also a significant food source for many desert animals. Wikipedia has a very good article about the Saguaro here with some great photographs here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saguaro

And this link from the Desert Botanical Garden show how a Saguaro Cactus' height is measured.

Measuring Saguaro Cactus at the Desert Botanical Garden
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jYDosMRKvA

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Next to the little garden area where Flat Stanley and I planted the Mammoth Russian Sunflowers, in a very large clay pot, grows a little Cristate, or "Crested" Saguaro that I purchased as a tiny 2" plant many years ago at the Desert Botanical Garden's Annual Spring Plant Sale. You can read more about it here. https://www.dbg.org/blog/history-plant-sale Flat Stanley was curious about this cactus of mine, and wanted to climb on it a bit. It is only about 3 feet tall, and since I was right with him, and because Flat Stanley is small and made of paper, I said it would be okay, just this once, if he was careful...PLEASE DO NOT EVER TRY TO DO THIS!!! Spiny cactus plants of any type are filled with thorns and are NOT for climbing on, especially in a National Park! The photo in this Journal Entry shows a picture of Flat Stanley sitting on my little Crested Saguaro, which will likely not crest for many years yet. This link from the Saguaro National Park Service has some great information about the Cristate Saguaro https://www.nps.gov/sagu/learn/nature/upload/Cristate-Saguaros.pdf, and this eleven minute video tells a great story and shows many images of different Crested Saguaros all around the Sonoran Desert in Arizona.

The Mysterious Crested Saguaro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfNJ2KuQNvU

On the other side of the little Sunflower Garden Flat Stanley and I planted, a Fishhook Barrel Cactus grows in another large pot. Flat Stanley wanted you to see it, so he very BRAVEly sat there among all of the thorns (he was not hurt in any way) while I took a quick photo of it to post in this Journal Entry.

Flat Stanley and I went out front to see the Prickly Pear Cactus growing in my front yard. He was a little concerned (and rightly so) about the thorns growing on it (see there to right side of the picture in this Journal Entry photograph next to the left side of Flat Stanley's head), so as you may notice, his frown came back as he sat on one of the cactus pads near one of the ripened Prickly Pear Fruit. Both the cactus pads and the fruit (also called "Tuna", or "Cactus Pear") are actually edible by creatures of the desert, and humans alike. While I am not fond of the texture or taste, and do not eat the pads (also called "Nopales"), I DO love the beautiful yellow blossoms that bloom in the spring, and am happy to see them, as they produce the fruit, and I DO love, and make Prickly Pear Jelly from them once they are ripe. You can see some of them in the photo. The juice made from the fruit is also good to use for Prickly Pear Iced Tea. ; )

Flat Stanley was wondering what the flowers that turn into the fruit look like, and since the Prickly Pear Cactus won't bloom until he has already returned home, and I really wanted him to see them. This Journal Entry Pic is my Prickly Pear Cactus in full bloom that I took last spring. You can learn more about the Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia), it's varieties, and even it's nutritional value in this Wikipedia link...THANK YOU, Wikipedia!!! : D https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opuntia

This AMAZING short (3:24 minutes) video by the National Park Service will give you a real "feel" of the desert and it's creatures. I included the text description of the video in the Journal Entry here, and there is also a link provided at the bottom of the text, to a rather "electronic" voice like the ones I've heard in television commercials for some of the new electronic devices with voices that answer you, that describes what you are seeing and hearing in the video. I didn't really like it, and was glad I didn't listen to it first, as I feel it takes away from the experience of really "feeling" the desert environment that comes with watching the original version in the first link below here. ENJOY!!! : D

A Day in the Desert: Saguaro Wilderness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWM0hYyHDvQ

Published on May 13, 2014
On the surface it might not look like much is going on in the desert, but even on the hottest, driest days, if you look behind the scenes, the Sonora desert is vibrant. Join us for a day to explore the rhythmic cycles of the wildlife that have adapted to call this wild place home.

This designated wilderness area protects the towering saguaro cacti, which have evolved to thrive in the Sonora desert's unique five seasons. The saguaro can hold over 200 gallons of water and provides nourishment and refuge for desert wildlife. White-winged doves and gila woodpeckers feed on the saguaro's white flowers, which bloom at night. The flowers give way to a moist fleshy red fruit, which is enjoyed by birds like the tiny yellow verdin, and ground animals like the large, pig-looking javelina.

The gila woodpecker also uses the saguaro as a home, drilling holes in the soft flesh of the cactus, which heals itself, creating a nest. The temperature inside the cactus is 20º F cooler, making it an ideal place to hide out during the heat of the day. Cactus wrens and Harris's hawks also nest in the arms of the saguaro, which provide shade and prickly protection.

As the morning sun crosses the landscape, other wildlife look for shade or retreat to their dens or underground burrows to avoid the sun. While the air temperature may hover over 100° F, the ground surface temperature can be closer to 150° F. As the sun disappears and temperatures cool, the desert comes to life. Rattlesnakes, tarantulas, coyotes, bobcats, skunks, and javelina all begin to forage and look for prey.

To thrive despite the lack of water, some animals have developed additional adaption strategies to get through the dry seasons; the gila monster stores fat in its plump tail and the desert tortoise stores water in its bladder.

The 'night shift' includes footage that was captured by Saguaro's remote camera traps as part of a scientific study to monitor the diversity of species and their distribution throughout the park. These cameras are motion triggered and provide glimpses of wildlife such as badgers, gray foxes, and ringtails as they go about their regular business without any human presence.

Produced by Sarah Gulick

For audio description: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfuMg8JcBiA&feature=youtu.be

Updates coming soon...

Updates coming soon...

Updates coming soon...

TO THE FINDER OF THIS BOOK:

HELLO...WELCOME to BOOKCROSSING...and CONGRATULATIONS!


You have not only found yourself a good book, but a whole community of booklovers dedicated to sharing books with each other and the world at large. I hope you'll stick around a bit and get to know BOOKCROSSING http://www.bookcrossing.com/about. Maybe you'll even decide to make a journal entry on this book, possibly listing me...BOOKWORMINUSALL...as the one who referred you. We want to make the whole world a library! You may choose to remain anonymous or to join (it's free!). Feel free to read and keep this book, or to pass it on to a friend, or even set it free "in the wild" for someone else to find as you did. If you do choose to join and journal, then you can watch the book as it travels - you'll be alerted by email each time someone makes another journal entry. It's all confidential (you're known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your email address), it's fun, it's free, and it's spam-free...all thanks to our dedicated totally AWESOME BOOKCROSSING MANAGEMENT http://www.bookcrossing.com/management, and SUPPORT TEAMS!!!

HAPPY READING!

More of Flat Stanley's adventures. Thank you for taking so much trouble to make all the wonderful journal entries as well as sending Stanley back with such a wonderful parcel. Snugglebunny was over the moon with everything.