The Valentine State

Arizona has been referred to as the Valentine State because it was admitted to the union on February 14th. Today is not just any Valentine’s Day in Arizona, it is Arizona’s Centennial, 1912-2012! This is a 1912 map of Arizona I superimposed on a large saguaro in Papago Park, which is probably way over 100 years old.

Arizona was the last of the contiguous 48 states to be admitted to the union in 1912. It was another 47 years later that Alaska and Hawaii gained statehood.

Since I couldn’t think of anything fitting to honor Arizona’s 100th birthday, here are a few more photos (that I have taken the last 3 years) of cacti, which seem to be synonymous with Arizona.

And, as an aside…here is Svengali’s valentine to everyone. I was trying to take a photo of a red boa in my front yard Sunday, a very windy day. All of a sudden Svengali came snooping around to see what was up. I thought that might make a cute valentine if he did something interesting. Little did I know that he would think I was preparing him a spot to, um, well, relieve himself. Fortunately, I grabbed the boa before he was able to implement his plan.

♥ Happy Valentine’s Day! ♥

♥ Happy Centennial Birthday, Arizona! ♥