20th Anniversary Dream Trip Contest

Great Travel Moment

I photographed the poppies at Organ Pipe National Monument in Southern Arizona in April of 2005. This was a special moment for me, as I had been living in Tucson for only 9 months, and wasn't sure if the desert was for me. I am from North Carolina, where there are trees and grass, and everything's not prickly or poisonous. But the dramatic beauty of this day, with all of these blooms (which don't come in such abundance every year), really tipped the scales of my becoming a lover of the desert southwest. The colors of the earth and sky are so beautiful in combination with the rocks and flowers, how could I not be inspired?