Mildly eventful journey

The return trip from Phoenix Sky Harbor to the University in Tucson usually takes about two hours, maybe two-and-a-quarter if there's an accident on the freeway or a delay loading up. This afternoon, the shuttle van's luggage trailer blew a tire just outside Casa Grande. The driver pulled off onto a dirt driveway at the edge of an outlet mall, and we passengers piled out to stretch our legs and supervise the repairs. It was a pleasant enough afternoon for hanging out in a weedy field -- not raining for a change, and not too hot. Changing the tire was easy enough; the hard part was removing the mangled fender, still attached by two quarter-inch bolts and a length of electrical cable. Much prying with a makeshift crowbar, on the part of the driver and one or two of the male passengers, didn't make much impression. A highway patrol officer turned up -- I'm not sure whether summoned or just flagged down -- and was unimpressed when someone asked if she had a nailfile, but did call for a colleague with a wrench. Eventually the bolts gave way, and the second officer easily sliced the cable with his 'seatbelt knife', a wicked-looking blade he produced from inside the collar of his shirt. At which point half the female passengers decided to visit the restrooms ... We eventually got to the University stop only about fifty minutes late. That gave me time for a more leisurely than usual walk up to the city bus stop, and a little photography; yucca flowers and a bed of slightly rain-damaged poppies and pansies. I'm still pondering what makes the camera see deep purple pansies as a sort of smoky blue; different ultraviolet sensitivity, maybe?