I have to say the first time I saw saguaros in the wild I was temporarily unimpressed. They had the look of randomly spaced shoots of grass sprouting from dirt–like you might see on a newly seeded lawn from the vantage point of an ant. Finally after I became exhausted mentally filling in their missing branches and leaves (east coast bias), I learned to love them as they were.

He reminded us to keep our perspectives while still staying engaged. He was willing to go where many would not go..politics, religion, environmentalist. Going to miss him,,,his insights, his intellect and his truth telling.

Do you know how to propogate? He should root by himself, even if you don’t make much of an attempt to get it done. I have one log right now that came from a dying species… I just stuck it side down in some potting soil and it has little tiny roots right now. I watch it closely because it’s my baby.

Let me know how it goes… victoria2dc at gmail dot com

One of the rites of passage for families in the southwest is having your photo taken by the road in front of one of these gentle giants. Go through enough family photos and sure enough eventually you’ll get to the one of the fam taken in front a huge saguaro. In that way, they feel like part of the family.

As for Russert, he was the witness Libby bluechip defense dared not question too feistily, as he always had some backplane of integrity. I see his testimony’s share of the trial dynamic as critical, and an often slighted turning point. Defense opted for discretion as the better part of barrister valor. I think Fitzgerald appreciated that moment as a turning point locking in prosecutor wins on several counts. Nagourney wrote a nice biography of Russert in NYTimes, reminding that Russert’s beginnings lay in the Moynihan and MCuomo organizations as a bluedog of sorts before becoming a mediaDarling.

And joining the jocund to the somber, Carlin’s passing certainly will inspire a few ribald comments. He was a pathmaker in his day.