Carrots for a Cause continues! 🥕💛
Another day, another Starbucks Carrot Method walk, and another reminder that my neighborhood is basically a wildlife documentary with occasional traffic, weird landscaping decisions, and coffee.
Today’s walk included a cooperative mockingbird, some spectacular cactus blooms, and a surprise reunion with a familiar face!
🎷 A Raymundo Sighting!
Well, look who I ran into on my walk!
I hadn’t seen Raymundo in about two months, so it was nice to catch up with him. He told me he has more saxophone gigs coming up and said he’d send me the details. I’m looking forward to hearing more!
We first met when he approached me and asked if I could identify a song he was playing. The song? “How Deep Is Your Love” by the Bee Gees. ❤️
That song is my absolute favorite, so it was a pretty memorable way to meet someone!
Then Andrew and I saw Raymundo perform at a Mexican restaurant back in March, and he played that very song. Hearing him perform it live was really cool.
I also found him on Facebook and YouTube, so naturally, I’ve been checking out his music. I watched his performance of “My Way,” and it was beautiful. Now I’m hoping I can get a video of him playing “How Deep Is Your Love.” A girl can dream! 🎷😊
It was a lovely little surprise to see him again today.
🐦 The Mockingbird Who Didn’t Mind the Paparazzi
I got a mockingbird sighting on the way to Starbucks!
And for once, I had a mockingbird who wasn’t anti-paparazzi. 😂
The mockingbirds around here can be absolute MENACES when I’m trying to photograph other birds. I don’t know if they’re jealous, protective, or convinced I’m violating some kind of bird privacy law, but they will dive-bomb me without hesitation.
Apparently, today’s mockingbird had no objections to being photographed. Thank you for your cooperation, little buddy!
🌵 Cactus Blooms: Big Flowers, Little Flowers
On the walk home, I spotted more cactus flowers!
I’ve been photographing the big, showy white flowers on the hardier-looking cactus near Starbucks. Those blossoms are enormous—probably about the size of my hand!
Today’s discovery was a little different. This cactus has a whole bunch of upright, column-like arms growing from a central base. It looks like a relative of the other cactus, but it’s not quite the same sort of beast.
And its flowers? Tiny by comparison! Maybe a couple of inches across.
This was the first time I’d noticed a bloom on this cactus, and the flower was perched way up at the very top—practically flirting with the power lines.
So, no, I will not be climbing the cactus for a better look inside the flower. I like my nature photography with all my limbs intact, thank you very much. 🤣
Sometimes the little discoveries are just as fun as the big, dramatic blooms.
🦜 Remember the Pink-and-Green Parrots?
Speaking of neighborhood wildlife, I’m still delighted by the flock of little pink-and-green lovebirds that showed up around my part of the Valley earlier this year.
These are the birds people casually call parrots. The story I’ve heard is that escaped pet lovebirds established a wild population here, and now they’ve multiplied into flocks across the Phoenix area.
I used to spot one occasionally back in the 2000s. I’d look up into a tree, see a bright pink-and-green bird, think, “Oh shit, it’s pink and green!” take a picture, and go about my business.
I saw them in Mesa, Chandler, and once in Tempe. But this year was the first time I’d seen them right over here by my house!
First, a whole flock—six or eight birds—showed up in the tree I call the Aquanet tree. They were eating, hanging out, and generally doing whatever lovebirds do when they have a tree full of snacks and no responsibilities.
A couple of weeks later, I found them again in the palm trees where the ravens hang out. I call that area their crow’s nests.
Both sightings were fantastic photo opportunities. The only problem? The mockingbirds had apparently been hired as security.
Those little feathered bodyguards were dive-bombing me like I was trying to steal the lovebirds’ identities. Apparently, photographing a pink-and-green bird is a serious security breach. 😂
The Aquanet tree was absolutely sporting color that day, and I got so many pictures that I made a whole blog post about it. People went nuts over those photos!
It’s one of my favorite things about these walks: the neighborhood keeps surprising me, and sometimes the most unexpected things become the best stories.
🐉 A Moment for Dragon Shrub
And speaking of neighborhood characters…
I’m still not over the beheading of Dragon Shrub.
If you missed the landscaping drama, Dragon Shrub was a magnificent accidental combination of orange trees and climbing vines that somehow formed the shape of a dragon’s head and neck.
On cloudy days, especially before rain, the sky behind him made it look as if smoke were coming out of his nostrils. During flowering season, the vines erupted in yellow blooms that looked like a golden ceremonial dragon cloak.
He was magnificent. Accidental plant engineering at its finest.
I photographed him on countless Starbucks Carrot Method walks. He became part of the route mythology—a neighborhood landmark with a personality.
And then the landscapers removed his head.
I still get sad thinking about it. I loved that ridiculous shrub! I have no idea why it was cut back so dramatically, and I certainly hope it wasn’t because I kept taking pictures of him. I was documenting his glory, not filing a complaint with the city! 😭🐉
At least I have the pictures. Dragon Shrub may be gone in his original form, but he lives on in the archives—and in my heart.
That’s one thing these walks have taught me: ordinary neighborhood objects can slowly become characters in the story. You see them over and over, notice their quirks, and before long, they’re part of your routine.
And when they change or disappear, you really do miss them.
🥕 Carrots for a Cause: Still Showing Up
Today was Walk 3 of 5 for the week, and another day of my October Carrots for a Cause challenge.
The goal is 62 miles in 31 days for the American Cancer Society. Every walk adds up, whether I’m photographing a cooperative mockingbird, hunting for cactus flowers, spotting a familiar face, or mourning a beheaded shrub.
Movement in real life still counts.
So does stopping to notice the world around you.
And apparently, so does developing emotional attachments to neighborhood landscaping. 🤣
Three walks down. Two more to go this week.
Keep moving, keep noticing, and keep finding a little joy along the way. 💛🥕🌵🎷
Still Counts. Always! 💜🥕🎶🏃♀️
Read more.
Starbucks Carrot Method – North Phoenix Walking Series and Jazzercise
Characters of the Starbucks Walks
Please be supportive if you can.
Carrots for a Cause – American Cancer Society 62-mile October Walking Challenge