There’s something always cheerful about a goldfinch. Seeing one makes my heart soar. This one at Tucson’s Sweetwater Wetlands was enjoying a dip in the water. This sort of gold is beyond price, a small piece of sunshine to brighten the day.
Breaking news!! I’ve just been informed that this is a male yellow warbler, not a goldfinch. Sigh. Sorry about that. 😬 But he’s still a bright, beautiful gold! Thanks, Deborah, my birding friend and expert.
No official One Word Sunday this week but I’m in the habit so why stop now? The obvious would be “It’s (not) easy being green” but that’s more than one word. But…so is this. 🙂 A happy, blessed Sunday.
Saturday I was on the road by 6:15 am heading down to Tucson to meet another fellow blogger (and another Lisa), from (https://peaceoflife.today/). Since we both like the outdoors and bird-watching, we met at Sweetwater Wetlands where we walked, chatted, and took photos. (The actual website is rather boring, so here’s a link to the Yelp site where you can read more about it or go to the website and scroll down for some more interesting information.)
After we were done there, my mission was to visit Seven Cups, a highly-touted tea house serving and selling only Chinese tea and tea accouterments. Unfortunately, they didn’t open until 11 am so we went with my second choice, The Scented Leaf where, for an additional cost, you can have CBD added to your tea! Yeah, that’s so not me but we did enjoy sipping our tea outside, watching people and traffic go by. After that, we made our way to Seven Cups where the seating area wasn’t open, browsed and bought tea, then had a delicious lunch next door at Tumerico, a vegan and vegetarian Latin restaurant. It was a great day.
But…on my way from a precious parking spot in downtown to The Scented Leaf, I passed the Rialto Theater which had…ta ha…doors!! Even when in somewhat of a hurry, you have to stop for doors.
This door wasn’t exactly fancy, but its redeeming feature was…
…a pretty cool mural next to it. Just FYI, no political meaning to this either way, just admiring the art.
Road trip today!! I’ll be taking the most boring drive in the US from Phoenix to Southern California for a week-long visit with our older daughter and her husband. I’ll have posts each day while I’m gone and I’ll respond to comments, but the only visiting I do will be there. I’ll make up for it when I get back, I promise, and you know there will be photos of the ocean, doors, flowers, and who knows what else. 🙂 Be safe and healthy while I’m gone and do talk to me because I miss each of you if you don’t.
In the desert, it’s all about the sun, but two things can mitigate against it: trees and shade. Best of all is if the two are found together, the way we found them at Sweetwater Wetlands.
As we walked along the path, if we stepped down a few inches closer to the cattails, the temperature dropped dramatically. It was a fascinating phenomenon and a welcome one where it was already hot at 8:30 in the morning.
Just the appearance of water can make you feel cooler and more relaxed. For birds, insects, and other animals, it can be the difference between life and death. Of course, it’s the same for humans, although you wouldn’t want to drink the reclaimed water at the Wetlands.
(more…)Saturday we took another exploratory drive to Tucson, this time to the Sweetwater Wetlands, a 60-acre water treatment facility, urban wildlife habitat, and outdoor classroom. It’s similar to the Riparian Preserve, although smaller and with different flora. One feature that I quickly learned to appreciate in the desert is that it has trees.
There must have been thousands of dragonflies of all colors and sizes.
One of the most prominent features was the overwhelming number of cattails, most of which were 10′ or more in height. Much of the water area was home to these giants which, as you can imagine, provide perfect privacy for ducks and other creatures.
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This, that and the other thing 