Winter in the desert shifts into spring despite winds and frosts. Already some trees and plants are blooming, pollen lies golden on the ground, bees are humming, and the first lizards are making a cautious exit from hibernation.

On the Brown Mountain hiking trail a tiny wild filaree hugs the dirt with its thin white petals. There has been enough gentle winter rain, what the O'odham call "female" rain, to (hopefully) give us a great desert wildflower season. If that happens, this month we might see pink fairy dusters, yellow bladderpods, desert marigolds, groundsel, and brittlebrush, followed by white desert anemones, desert star, chicory, and evening primrose, which unfold little white flowers at sunset to attract hawk moths, then wilts in the morning.

Fairyduster is one of the earliest blooms in the desert spring	Around Easter time you'll likely find hillsides covered with Desert Marigolds in full bloom	By mid-March lupines make their appearence near washes or along roadsides

Then come orange monkey flowers, red paintbrush, purple verbenas, fuchsia penstemons, fragrant white mock-orange, and perhaps sand blazing stars and ghost flowers, their cream-colored petals streaked with orange.

By the time the chance of frost is past in mid-March, look for dock, with its clumps of creamy little bell-like flowers, desert plantago and streptanthus, orange-cupped globe mallows, Arizona and Mexican poppies, and the tubular chuparosa, named in Spanish for the hummingbirds that feed on them. Tiny yellow flowers adorn the creosote bushes, purple lupines rise alongside roads, and spring is soon officially here!

Spring also sees the return of the broad-billed hummingbird, Casin's and Western kingbirds, along with cliff and barn swallows. As flowers bloom, bird breeding and nesting is in full swing. Lizards appear, speedy whiptails, zebra-tails who wave their black and white tails to scare hunters off, desert spiny lizards doing pushups to make themselves look larger, delicate night-roaming geckos, as well as leopard, side-blotched and earless lizards. By summer large desert iguanas and ant-eating regal horned lizards will also be about.

Along with wildflowers come unwanted plants, weeds, which may grow high and become fire hazards as they dry out when summer heat parches the land. And don't forget that lots of green vegetation means lots of rabbits and ground squirrels, which, in turn, attract snakes. More on that next month.

There are many good desert wildflower books, some available at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and Saguaro National Park gift shops. The Southern Arizona Nature Almanac by Roseann Beggy Hanson and Jonathan Hanson (University of Arizona Press) gives a detailed month-by-month discussion of what's happening around us.

Pima County bond money is available for neighborhood improvement projects in Picture Rocks. Area residents are invited to gather and share their ideas and suggestions at this special event sponsored by Citizens for Picture Rocks.

A new Board of Directors has taken office at Picture Rocks Community Center, Inc. (PRCCI) following the resignation of Billie Donohue for health reasons. The new president is Bernum Pearson, with Carline Bordelon as Vice President, Olga Schombert, Secretary, and Willa Grandel, Treasurer.

Talking with Picture Rocks Digest, Bernum said that Billie "is a tough act to follow." He advocates resolving long-standing conflicts with the Pima County-run Picture Rocks Community Center (PRCC), and sees the private, non-profit PRCCI as focusing on food and clothing banks and its thrift store, areas not duplicating PRCC programs. Bernum hopes to see both community centers providing each other with mutual support, noting that area residents use both facilities.

A resident of Avra Valley, Bernum retired from Pennzoil's mining division and volunteers with a program to feed needy children. He hopes to use PRCCI as a model that could be migrated to other communities, and is looking for more volunteers ("There are never enough!") and a couple of board members, as well as donations for the thrift store (open daily 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at 6691 N. Sandario Road). For more information, call PRCCI at 616-7096.

Even with independent voters left out of the Democrat and Republican primary balloting, 1,614 Picture Rocks residents voted at precinct number 113 at the Sandario Baptist Church. Unofficial tallies of all votes, including provisional and early ballots, show that Democrat Hillary Clinton outpolled Barack Obama, 345 to 203. On the Republican side, Mitt Romney came in first with 288 votes, closely followed by John McCain with 278, leaving Mike Huckabee far behind with 78 votes. Ron Paul received 14 votes.

Citizens for Picture Rocks, while maintaining a non-partisan position and not endorsing any candidates, will once again host Candidate Night Forums for local offices, including Sheriff, State Representative, State Senator, County Supervisor and others affecting our district. Meetings are open to all neighbors; check future issues of Picture Rocks Digest or Desert Times.

Beware of fraudulent phone calls and emails that claim to be from the IRS. They may claim to offer rebates or refunds, or warn of audits, but they are really identity theft attempts. The IRS does NOT gather information by telephone and does NOT send unsolicited email about tax account matters. For more information, visit the official IRS website.

• Adopt-A-Roadway Cleanup, Saturday, April 5. Citizens for Picture Rocks has adopted three sections of local roads for twice-yearly cleanups. Volunteers (over age 14) will meet at the PRCC, 5615 N. Sanders Road, at 8 a.m. on Saturday, April 5. Tools come from a PRO Neighborhoods grant and lunch will be provided. For more information, contact Co-coordinator Jan Pekelder at 682-7122.
  


• Pima Council on Aging is at Picture Rocks Community Center, 5615 N. Sanders Road, the first Wednesday of the month from noon to 2 p.m. to assist elders and caretakers facing problems. PCOA is also holding tax workshops for those who qualify for property tax refunds and widow's exemptions. For more information, or to schedule an appointment, call Carolyn at 790-0504, ext. 5016.
  


• Pima County Home Repairs. Low income homeowners may qualify for Home Repair Assistance of up to $8,000, or Housing Rehabilitation Assistance and loans of up to $16,000, with low-cost, interest-free repayments. For more information, call Pima County Community Services Department Home Repair Program at 740-5205, or Pima County Community Development and Neighborhood Conservation Program Home Repair Department, 243-6789.
  


• CDBG Grant Request Filed. Citizens for Picture Rocks has filed a Community Development Block Grant application that, if approved, would provide funds to build a much-needed shade structure for the Picture Rocks Park children's playground.
  


• Picture Rocks Ramps and Rails Continues BMX-Skate Park Planning. Picture Rocks youth and supportive adults are continuing to meet with Pima County staff on plans for a BMX-Skate Park in Picture Rocks Park. A story appeared in the Arizona Daily Star's Northwest section on February 7, with a photo of skaters Dillon Elster and Del'von Mendez.
  


• Saguaro National Park Hikes. Twilight and sunset hikes are scheduled for February 9, 18 and 19. Advance registration is required; call 733-5158 or 733-5191. A full moon patio talk at the Red Hills Visitor Center takes place on February 21 at 7:30 p.m. No reservations necessary, but bring a lawn chair and warm clothing.
  


• "50 years in Marana: Health center has served generations." A story in the January 16, 2008,issue of the Explorer tells the colorful history of the Marana Health Center, which was founded in 1957, and describes its plans to begin construction on a new $20 million campus later this year.
  


• Good Luck, Marana High School's Girls Basketball Team!