Reid Park

January 29, 2025

AFD#5

It’s cold and windy today, one that Rachael chooses to spend inside on the couch in front of the space heater. If I get an early start though I’ve got a few hours to make it out to Reid Park for some early morning birding. It’s about forty degrees when I head west up through the UofA campus, and after turning south on Treat I’m entering the park around nine.

It’s a successful visit - two new birds get added to the year’s list, and I locate some excellent spots for a repeat visit. Particularly promising is the Rose Garden, closed at the time I came by and hopping with small birds.

Script errors: none, for the second perfect day in a row.

I’ve pulled off onto the alley we lived on two winters ago when I hear a curved thrasher. It’s probably one of the same couple we’d see here some mornings. He flew off before I’d located him, but while I’m here the lighting is perfect for the Jesse Walters mural.

The house finches are getting plenty of carotene in their diet here, I see.

Vermillion flycatchers are the Lay’s potato chips of Tucson’s birding scene.

My timing for the morning is perfect, as it’s just starting to sprinkle when I make it back to the apartment. We both hang out for the entire afternoon while it’s raining out, and at the end of the day we walk up to the SunTrans stop on Speedway where we enjoy a free ride on the bus to its stop on Campbell (like the streetcar, rides on the Sun Trans bus system are free until August, under orders from the mayor), where we have dinner at Red Garter Bar&Grill and then walk across the street for a showing of All We Imagine as Light at the Loft. The film was expected to be submitted as an academy award nominee by India, but in a controversial decision India submitted a different film - in spite of the fact that this one was almost universally reviewed as the best international film of the year and by some the best film of the year in any language. It is a remarkable film with a somewhat confusing plot,well outlined by the Wikipedia article that also discusses its reception and the failure to submit it to the Academy.

We left the theater immediately when the film credits began to roll, in a rush to make it back to the bus stop before the next departure which we believed was expected to arrive in about five minutes. Our backup plan was to return home with Uber, which we ended up doing anyway when it turned out that the next departure was still over 15 minutes away and it was too cold out to wait that long.

Our ride arrived three minutes later, but there was great confusion about the pickup spot. As I read the map, I thought it was at the west bound bus stop where we’d gotten off earlier, so we rushed across the two streets in the dark, only to rush back again when we realized I’d gotten it backwards.

Thankfully the driver was still there waiting for us when we scrambled back. And if we do this again I’m sure we would just call Uber from inside the theater, staying warm while we waited at a known location. And in retrospect, I don’t think either of us really trusts riding these busses or waiting around outside for them that late at night.

It’s been wet all afternoon, but the rains are just passing as we leave to catch the free bus to Columbus Avenue where we’ll have dinner before viewing a film at the Loft

Tonight’s meal stop, just a half block from the Loft. Its started raining again, and it’s frustrating finding the entrance.

The onion rings pair nicely with tonight’s offering.

Fine dining or not, it fits the bill. The Loft is about a half block to the east, just on the other side of Columbus.

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Today's ride: 12 miles (19 km)
Total: 375 miles (604 km)

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Patrick O'HaraHey guys. Glad to hear that your AFD streak continues. Seems like you're hitting your groove down there in Tucson.
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3 days ago

Scott AndersonTo Patrick O'HaraI know - pretty dull, right? I’ll bet you’re missing those good and bad story days already.
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3 days ago