Almost Dusk, Almost the Desert

We're nearing the shortest day of the year, with a few weeks to go, but as far as the sunset time goes, the sun won't set much earlier than it did tonight. The sun went down right around 4:29 pm this afternoon. In the last 45 minutes it was up, I walked into the Desert Pavilion and was pretty knocked out. This pavilion is always kind of magical, and I think it's so even for people who don't necessarily spend a lot of time thinking about or studying plants. (I don't imagine there are that many people who aren't impressed with a cactus, particularly people from this part of the country where the climate and landscape is so different than New Mexico or Arizona.) But with the sun low in the sky right now, that last bit of almost-winter light is pretty amazing amidst the otherworldly plants of this conservatory. But you never know. Maybe I would have been just as stunned walking in there at noon.