Red Flowers in a Granite Crease
Joshua Tree National Park, California
As a biologist, I'm always fascinated by the tenacity of life. These flowers have managed to find a foothold in a small crease in a granite rock where they can find enough nutrients and water to survive. I've been back to this location several times to photograph them with film, but they bloom only for a short time in January, and I haven't yet been able to again find that window in time when they are in bloom. Photo © copyright by Stephen Penland.