2005 brought the wettest winter in a long time to much of the Southwest.  As snow piled to the bottom branches on the high peaks, and wash bottoms that had faded to mere wrinkles in the dust coursed again with water, seeds that had lain forgotten for years awoke to reclaim their ancestral lands.  Mountainsides and desert valleys erupted in fireworks of wildflower celebration.  I shot this photo as a storm was clearing the mountains of the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, blowing a sea of wildflowers around the stationary, and less ephemeral, chollas.    

Flowers & Chollas
Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, Arizona

 ©2005 Bryan David Griffith, All Rights Reserved.  Unauthorized use of images contained herein constitiutes violation of copyright.