Wasp on a Cactus Blossom

When I took this picture I was intent on getting the wasp in focus and didn't notice the spider web or the spider hiding beneath the petal of the top blossom.

Easter Lily Cactus Blossom

An Easter Lily Cactus blossoms in a window-box garden at the side of our patio. The box also holds Ghost Plant succulents and Pin Cushion Cactus.

This year there were two blossoms. This was yesterday's. It was open when we opened the door at about 9:00 A.M. and lasted until shortly after noon.

The second blossom was open when I stepped outside at about 7:00 o'clock this morning. There are several varieties of this plant with slightly different colored flowers from pristine white to brilliant pink. They begin with an ugly black hairy growth from the side of the globular cactus that lasts two or three weeks, and then very suddenly this gorgeous blossom appears.

Sunset Over the Rio Grande Valley

About twenty minutes before sunset. Because of the clouds I had hoped for more spectacular color in the western sky, but it didn't quite happen.

Notice the tethered blimp hovering between the two prominent palm trees at the left. It's "Big Brother's" eye in the sky. It keeps watch over the Valley from Mission, TX to Sullivan City.

A ground crew maintains the blimp and keeps an eye on the monitors 24 hours a day, every day. This part of the Texas border is a high traffic area for illegal immigrants.

River Patrol on the Rio Grande

Early morning at Anzalduas park in Mission, TX. The Texas Highway Patrol had their boats launched and tied up at the dock when we arrived.

I had seen photos of these boats, but seeing them in person was a bit of "shock and awe."

Each of the boats has two tandem sets of M240, 7.62 mm machine guns mounted in the bow and two single mount guns at the rear. All six guns, capable of firing 750 - 950 rounds per minute, were locked and loaded. With a range of 4,000+ yards, I can't imagine any drug runner resisting.

Texas State Highway troopers were preparing for exercises with the Border Patrol and willingly posed for photos.

 Armored as they are it takes every bit of the 900 horsepower three Yamaha outboard engines crank out to push the boats up and down the river at speed.

Look out bandidos, here they come.

Illegal Crossing

This scenario began to unfold while our photography group visited Anzalduas park in Mission, TX a few days ago.

I was taking photos of egrets and pelicans in the river just below the dam on the Rio Grande River when I noticed a group of people emerge from the woods on the other side.

 

A man began to prepare an inflatable raft and I began to realize what was going on.

The coyote carried the raft to the river...

...as soon as it was in the water, six people scrambled down the river bank, boarded and began their trip across the river.

A few minutes later this group of four women and two children were sauntering up the road toward the dike that intersects the park.

To me, this seemed to be a very strange crossing. Four women, two children illegally entering the U.S. in broad daylight, within view of the dam where people are working and surveillance cameras continually watching. They casually stroll down the road as if it's a regular commute.

They trek to the top of the dike and stroll about a hundred yards when one of the women waves to the constable who will detain the group.

During the entire episode there was no sense of urgency, concern or furtiveness displayed by any member of the group. The constable had no probable cause to detain them, he hadn't witnessed the crossing, they could have been American tourists, like me, exploring the park.

In addition, the Border Patrol, and the Texas State Highway Patrol were conducting some kind of joint exercise during the day. Earlier the constable told us the park would be closed at noon, presumably because of those exercises.

So, why would this group of women and children pay a Coyote to smuggle them across the river, nonchalantly cross as if they belonged here and then casually walk into the arms waiting law enforcement? If normal procedure was followed they would have been escorted to a port of entry and deposited back into Mexico before lunch.