The Slow Changing Saguaro

Change: it happens all around us every day, yet we often hardly even recognize it. One day slowly and peacefully drifts into the next until the next thing you know, many years have passed. While change is easily recognized in some circumstances such as, growing children, stock values, or the weather, it can sometimes take years to notice significant change in other arenas. The ever present, slow growing, trustworthy saguaro cactus falls into this category as the dependable icon of the west.

While showing up as symbol of the west in most Hollywood cowboy movies and travel brochures, the saguaro cactus is actually only native to the Sonoran Desert. 

This desert comprises a small portion of southern Arizona, deep southern California and a small western section of northern Mexico. The Saguaro National Park, where we visited, is a 92,000-acre park located in southeastern Arizona, near Tuscan. The park was set aside in 1933 by Herbert Hoover for a National Monument as preserve and for all to enjoy.

Having visited in 1996, twenty-five years did little to change the landscape as we traveled the same path, exploring for the most part the same cacti. Young cacti only grow 1 to 2 inches in their first 8 years. It takes 35 years for its first bloom, 50 years for its first arm, become adults at 125 years and often live to 200! I am sure we took pictures of the same silhouettes as we marveled at their beauty. 

The cacti seem to take on a personality of their own with the many different shapes and sizes. While generally not growing above 4000 feet in elevation, they do stand out in the landscape as they can reach heights of 75 feet tall. 

After visiting the park, you truly feel like you have been “out west,” and the memories of the tall, majestic Saguaros are embedded in our minds for years to come.

While another twenty-five years will mean significant change for our family, meanwhile, at the Saguaro National Park, most likely very little will change. Nevertheless, it is a great place to visit!

~Mark