No Splenda, saccharin, sugar, Equal, or anything else required

Well, this picture lies, I admit it. Down here in the desert the sweetness that is the desert Spring is far more advanced than this photo, taken in early March.

The trees are in full summery leaf, and much of desert plant life is busy ensuring its survival, renewal, and offspring. Which is just to say there's a lot of blooming going on.

And with, or without, bloom one of the surprises to a "ferriner" coming into high desert life is the incredible sweetness of all plant life here.

Sweetness everywhere! As in, even standing waiting for my sweetie in a Walmart parking lot (I know, I know, but their bubble envelopes for my book sales are the cheapest by far) I was almost overcome by the outrageous glorious sweetness of the yellow blooming desert bushes that marked off the parking rows.

And as for taking a "stroll" on my mobility scooter around the neighborhood, well, it's a natural gentle perfume store, and we're all sere desert landscapers here, none of that water-expensive grass nonsense for us. And still, and still, incredible sweetness. Some days it sure pays to notice where you are.