Is it possible for anyone to get tired of looking at the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty?

I mean if you live by these wonders, or if you drive past Niagara Falls on your way to work, if you pass The Arc de Triomphe each day, do you always look in wonder?

I’ve seen some of these things on vacation and stood in awe, but I’ve also seen people just walk right past as if the whole “Oh My God” was not right there.

The beach is another place, I wonder if the people living close, the ones that get to see it everyday, do they know how amazing it is or does that wear off?

In my silly mind I think if you live by these phenomenal things you must know everything about them.  Of course everyone in Paris knows all the stats on The Tower, the history.

Um…not so much, it’s probably just a part of their landscape.  I know people that live in New York and they can’t tell you anything about the Brooklyn Bridge.  It blends in with their daily commute or the more important tasks of the day, the month, or the year.

I do the same thing, not consciously, and I certainly don’t live in Paris, but I’ve live in Arizona all my adult life and I drive past hundreds of Saguaros every day.  I have 4 or 5 in my backyard.  They are my own personal wonder, my tower.  I look at them all the time and completely take them for granted.

Up until yesterday, I knew they had to be a certain age to get one of those arms, but I had no real information.  I decided last night I was going to start paying attention, start appreciating my wonders.  Okay, maybe not all of them at once, my I’m starting with the Saguaros.

Saguaros grow in the Sonoran Desert and nowhere else in the world.   That means that if someone from Paris, with all it’s wonders, comes to Arizona, my Saguaros are pretty darn spectacular because he or she has never seen anything like it.

Saguaros only grow about an inch a year, but can get to be 15 to 50 feet tall.  The large ones with five or more arms are over 200 years old.  200 years old…that’s generations.

During a rainy year they can fill up and weigh over two tons.  Despite this crazy weight they have very shallow roots and they bloom the most beautiful flowers.  Once the flowers open they close the next day by noon and never open again.  Thousands of birds, notably the Gila Woodpecker and the Gilded Flicker, make their home in the Saguaro.

We have a Saguaro on our property that I call “the hotel” because there are so many birds hanging out in it.

I feel better now, I’ve noticed some of my wonder.  I’m sure the Saguaros will fade back into my daily trekking eventually, but I will try to appreciate them more.  Just please don’t ask me about the Grand Canyon yet…I’m a work in progress.

My thoughts from the laundry room.  Notice the Thread Count.

Arizona commute crazy life education life meaning America Arizona life saguaros thoughts whatever wonder