I have been meaning for a while to start showing pictures of some of the places I feature in Black Tree. Many of you are Arizonans, but for everyone else the landscape is perhaps less familiar. And even if you live in the state, there may be certain places that I wrote about that you haven't yet visited.
I begin with the first chapter. For the general descriptions of desert landscape with saguaros, here are some views from around the Cave Creek area (that is, just slightly north of Phoenix). Note the variety of textures and plants.
There are some teddy bear cholla in this view; they're one of my favorites.
Moving on to I.III, Julia describes Montezuma Well. Here is a look at the ruins through the fence and another look without the fence. Notice how ground level is above the dwellings.
Here you can see that the cliff dwellings stand above the well.
And here is a closer look at the water, which is both wide and deep.
You can see here some of the steps along the path. They're made of stone and cement and they're not entirely consistent in structure or layout--but their neutral colors and even their curving placement do help to blend in with the environment.