Some days, you have a plan. And some days, life looks at your plan, laughs hysterically, and says, “Oh, honey. We’re doing something else today.” 🤣
Welcome to Walk 3 of 5.
🚨 The Great Kitten Rescue Fire Drill
Last night, while I was playing pinball at Electric Bat, I got a call from a friend about kittens at GCU who needed help. Naturally, my first instinct was to see what we could do.
Andrew and I have experience with tiny rescue kittens. We raised Xena and Gabby from just FOUR DAYS OLD, so we already had supplies and knew what bottle babies required. We started mentally preparing, pulled out the supplies, and were ready to help.
Then came Pivot #1: We were told there were three kittens.
Pivot #2: Wait, no. SIX kittens.
Pivot #3: And they weren’t four-day-old bottle babies after all. They were around four weeks old, which is a whole different set of needs!
We started figuring out options, checking on shelter possibilities, and reaching out to people who might have advice. I even contacted my Jazzercise friend who has shelter experience because I wanted to make sure we were approaching the situation correctly.
I canceled Jazzercise while we were figuring everything out because, well, potentially helping six kittens takes priority over dancing to a playlist.
We were prepared to jump into rescue mode, but ultimately, the mother of one of the students said her daughter would take the kittens to a shelter instead.
And that was that. We didn’t end up taking in the kittens, but hopefully, they got the help they needed.
Three pivots. One potential kitten rescue. Zero Jazzercise.
My workout schedule never stood a chance. 😂
Also, I had put on my cat-print shirt because I was prepared to meet a group of college students and collect SIX KITTENS. I figured looking like a friendly cat person might help establish my credentials. I was not about to show up looking like a kitten-snatching monster.
The kittens did not come home with us, but the cat shirt was ready for its moment.
☕ The Starbucks Carrot Method: Still Counts
After last night’s chaos, it was time to get back to my regularly scheduled programming.
I headed out for my Starbucks walk, picked up my carrot, and took a seat at my usual midpoint bench before heading home.
Walk to Starbucks Receipts
The Fitbit can fuss all it wants, but this routine has become part of my life. I get out, move my body, get some fresh air, and see what the neighborhood has to offer.
And today, the neighborhood apparently had a full wildlife production scheduled.
🌥️ Arizona Weather: Pick a Lane!
Behind me, the sun was producing an actual LASER BEAM aimed directly at my neck.
In front of me? Clouds rolling in like they were preparing to unleash the entire monsoon season.
I was sweating like nobody’s business, trying to appreciate the gorgeous cloud formations while simultaneously wondering whether I was going to get fried, soaked, or both.
Arizona weather really said, “Why choose one experience when we can offer ALL OF THEM?”
The sky was beautiful, though. The clouds were dramatic, the mountains were looking good, and the changing light made for some great pictures.
I just would have preferred the sun to stop attempting to cook me. 🌞😂
🐦 Bird Palooza: The Main Event
And then there were the birds.
Y’ALL.
I already knew my neighborhood was a bird circus, but today’s performance was something else entirely.
We’ve got Chihuahuan ravens, crows, grackles, starlings, doves, pigeons (the dumbasses), mockingbirds, Gila woodpeckers, and the occasional peach-faced lovebird making surprise appearances.
Yes, peach-faced lovebirds! I first remember seeing them in the Lehi area of Mesa around 2003 or 2004. Now, in 2026, they’re showing up all the way over on the west side of the Valley. Watching that change over the years is pretty wild.
🌄 Birds’ Sunrise Theatre
One of my favorite neighborhood oddities is what I’ve named Birds’ Sunrise Theatre.
Most mornings, between 7 and 8, a delightful assortment of doves, pigeons, starlings, and sometimes mockingbirds lines up on an electrical wire in front of the mountain. They all face east, watch the sunrise, and hang out for about an hour before going about their day.
I swear it looks like they have a daily meeting.
No agenda has been published. Minutes have not been made available. The birds decline to comment.
But the attendance is remarkably consistent.
By the time I passed through today, the theatre was empty. Apparently, the show was over, and I had missed the morning performance.
🌴 Palm Berry Bistro
Then I spotted a palm tree absolutely loaded with birds.
They were tucked into the fronds and scattered among the hanging clusters of dark fruit. Some were perched and eating, others were flying in and out, and a few were performing aerial maneuvers that looked like they were auditioning for the Blue Angels.
The more I watched, the more birds I noticed.
That tree isn’t just a place to hang out. It’s a restaurant with a rooftop lounge!
Birds’ Sunrise Theatre by morning. Palm Berry Bistro by late morning.
The neighborhood’s hospitality industry is thriving. 🤣
🐦 The Neighborhood Convention
And the birds weren’t limiting themselves to the palm tree. They were all over the nearby bare branches, too.
I got pictures of birds perched in the trees, flying between branches, and generally carrying on like the entire neighborhood had received an invitation to an important meeting.
Some were eating. Some were moving around. Some were just sitting there looking official.
I don’t know what they were discussing, but given how much flying was happening, I suspect the meeting got a little rowdy.
And the best part? I got to stop, watch, and enjoy it.
That’s one of the unexpected joys of this walking routine. Sometimes the reward isn’t a number on a screen. Sometimes it’s a whole flock of birds putting on a show while you happen to be passing by.
📊 Fitbit Can Calm Down Now
Return Walk Receipts
The return walk wrapped up with:
– 1.19 miles on the return
– 49 minutes of walking
– 2,812 steps during that recorded walk
– 325 calories reported by Fitbit
– 119 bpm average heart rate
Combined with the earlier 1.38-mile outbound walk, that’s approximately 2.57 miles for today’s Starbucks round trip, based on the two recorded activities.
My weekly walking total was already at 11.73 miles toward a 14-mile goal, with Thursday, Friday, and Saturday still to go.
THREE DAYS, FITBIT. I HAVE THREE DAYS LEFT. I CAN COUNT. MOST OF THE TIME. 😂
And that walking total doesn’t tell the whole story of my activity. There’s Jazzercise when I actually attend, pinball, groceries, household chores, and all the other movement that happens just because I’m living my life.
I’m not trying to add extra workouts to appease a wrist computer. I’m doing my walks, going to Jazzercise, and getting on with my day.
The incidental movement is incidental because it happens naturally. And Jazzercise is NOT incidental just because it includes dance moves. That’s intentional exercise with choreography, thank you very much.
💜 The Takeaway
Today’s plan got derailed by a potential kitten rescue, three major pivots, and a canceled Jazzercise class.
The kittens didn’t come home with us, but hopefully they found the help they needed.
I still got my Starbucks walk done, enjoyed some spectacular clouds, revisited my neighborhood’s bird-watching hotspots, and witnessed what can only be described as Bird Palooza.
Some days, wellness looks like a perfectly planned workout.
Other days, it looks like being willing to change your plans when someone needs help, getting your walk in when you can, and stopping to watch a bunch of birds doing ridiculous bird things.
Wellness without perfection. Movement in real life still counts. And apparently, so does accidental ornithology.
Still counts. Always! 💜🚶🐦⬛🐈⬛💃
Read more.
Starbucks Carrot Method – North Phoenix Walking Series and Jazzercise