The Journal: The Saguaro Cactus

by

In today’s Journal

* Quote of the Day
* Actually, no
* Of Interest
* The Numbers

Quote of the Day

A little misinformation from an article a friend sent me, featured on Yahoo News:

“Saguaro are considered to be a ‘symbol of the American west,’ yet they are rare, NPS officials say. ‘These majestic plants, found only in a small portion of the United States, are protected by Saguaro National Park’ near Tuscon.”

Actually, no, saguaros aren’t ‘rare’.

1. Saguaros are protected in Arizona, but so are almost every desert plant. If you don’t believe me, be observed trying to dig one up or even retrieving one that is already dug up.

As an aside, years ago, I rescued an ocotillo that had been bulldozed out of the ground to widen a road. I wrapped it in a blanket (spines), loaded it into my pickup, and took it home to plant it in my yard. A few days later (a neighbor informed on me), park service officials showed up and took the plant away to be destroyed. All of which makes perfect sense in today’s world but was completely nonsensical when it happened.

But back to the mighty saguaro. Saguaros grow throughout the Sonoran desert, which extends from deep in Mexico up into southeast Arizona. They also grow in the western- and northern-most parts of the Chihuahua desert.

2. Saguaro National Park is actually two separate parks (NE and SW of Tucson) and saguaros grow hundreds of miles outside the boundaries of the park.

Of course, there was no place on the article to leave a comment. We mustn’t correct the party line.

Talk with you again soon.

Of Interest

See “Now Free: The 2021 Guide to Manuscript Publishers” at https://authorspublish.com/free-book-the-2021-guide-to-manuscript-publishers/.

See “Deadly Problems For Writers” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/deadly-problems-for-writers/. This is a great post.

See “Write Like You’re in Love, Edit Like You’re in Charge” at https://killzoneblog.com/2021/05/write-like-youre-in-love-edit-like-youre-in-charge.html. To this one I can add only one caveat: Don’t be a bully. Let your love be who he/she/it (the story) wants to be.

See “Should we censor art?” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/should-we-censor-art/. See PG’s sensible take.

The Numbers

The Journal…………………………………… 330 words

Writing of Wes Crowley, Texas Ranger (novel)
Words brought forward………………………………………… 31,122

Day 1…… 0773 words. Total words to date…… 31895
Day 2…… 2162 words. Total words to date…… 34057
Day 3…… 2642 words. Total words to date…… 36699

Total fiction words for May……… 77473
Total fiction words for the year………… 448752
Total nonfiction words for May… 21050
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 105910
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 554662

Calendar Year 2021 Novels to Date…………………… 9
Calendar Year 2021 Novellas to Date……………… 1
Calendar Year 2021 Short Stories to Date… 3
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 62
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 217
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31

Disclaimer: In this blog, I provide advice on writing fiction. I advocate a technique called Writing Into the Dark. To be crystal clear, WITD is not “the only way” to write, nor will I ever say it is. However, as I am the only writer who advocates WITD both publicly and regularly, I will continue to do so, among myriad other topics.

4 thoughts on “The Journal: The Saguaro Cactus”

  1. Hi Harvey,
    If I may ask, why was your ocotillo plant taken away to be destroyed? I didn’t understand the context, especially when you say it makes sense in today’s world but not back then. (I’ll add that I knew nothing about ocotillos until I read your post. 🙂 )

    • Private ownership of desert plants is forbidden unless you buy them from a “legitimate source.” You aren’t allowed to dig up a plant and move it to your private property. Apparently, you also are not allowed to “rescue” a plant that had already been dredged from the earth either. I understand the reasoning. They don’t want tourists or locals going out and digging up these beautiful plants. The state would have made an exception (looked the other way) in the case of the ocotillo had my sweet (sarcasm) neighbor across the street not complained.

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