Went to bed early last night and it was still hard to wake up at 6 a.m. I got plenty of sleep but just didn’t want to leave the warmth of the blankets. Kim got up to get ready for the 5K, but I reset the alarm for 6:15. Didn’t have to leave until 6:45 so that gave me plenty of time to change into clothes and get out the door. Temperature was 50o with clouds. It was a good morning for a run, a fast walk or whatever the body would allow.
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When I got up,
I peeked out the door to check out the bird situation. Plenty of chirping
coming from the bushes but nary a feather to be seen on the feeders. By 6:30,
there was a hummer on the feeder, but no visual on the bigger birds yet, only
audio. Prior to leaving, I put a new
suet cake in the holder, and a solitary sparrow came out to nibble on it at
about 6:50. So that’s the first set of data collected for the Breakfast Hour of
Birds Study.
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The location of
the Cotton Days 5K had changed last year…we were unaware of it. When it became
obvious that it wasn’t at the corner of Hwy 87 and Central Ave., I scrambled to
find out where it was, then told Rapunzel to lead us there. Arrived with about
6 minutes to spare. Turns out we had plenty of time because one of the
participants had checked in with ‘Stacy’ who wasn’t there yet, and said she’d
be there in a minute if they’d wait. Since there were only 14 participants, we
waited. Most of the participants knew each other. This is truly a small-town event, but that does
not diminish the enthusiasm one bit.
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The first-place
finisher (teenage boy) crossed the finish line in just over 15 minutes…the
final participant crossed the finish line with a time of 47:16…which now happens
to be Kim’s personal best.👍
Kim said the
eventual winner lapped him when he was halfway through his first lap around the
park. Partway around the second time, Kim jogged occasionally
so he wouldn’t be so far behind when he came in last. Towards the end, he managed to keep within
range of an 8-year-old named Hunter and his father. Hunter had started out by running but
couldn’t quite keep it up the whole way, so he had to do some walking; as he
rounded the last corner with about 20 yds to go, he poured on the speed as
those waiting for him cheered. Kim did the same to the cheers of the crowd, although
his style of ‘pouring it on’ looked a little different than Hunter’s.🙂
As in the past, the timer was simply someone’s phone. Like I said, small town
event, but fun.
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Trophies were awarded and we were out of there by 8:40. And apparently
Kim was the oldest one competing, although he didn’t win a trophy, just a
participation medal. Stacy, the lady that was last to arrive, won the 65-70 age
bracket; Kim is 73. Too early for the
carnival, food trucks, or stage events in the park to be open, so we headed
back to camp. Hung out for a bit, then jumped on the bikes to head back to check
out Cotton Days and get something to eat.
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The reason I like to go to Cotton Days can be summed up in two words:
Frybread Tacos (a.k.a. Indian or Navajo Tacos). I had to settle for nachos
because not a single food truck offered frybread tacos. One vendor offered something similar but on a
tortilla shell, not fry bread. The fry bread is what appeals to me…otherwise,
it’s just a taco or taco salad. Slightly
disappointed that I didn’t get one today, but there’s always the Pinal County
Fair in a couple of weeks. Perhaps a
vendor will have the good sense to offer them there.
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I was curious as to how difficult it is to make frybread. Turns out it’s
not very hard at all. But along with recipes, Google hinted at the ‘dark
history’ associated with frybread. Found this on Wikipedia, which I know isn’t
the most reliable source, but it told the same story as Britannica.com, only more
concisely. Additional information in black was added by me.
Frybread
has a complex cultural history that is inextricably intertwined with colonialism and displacement of Native Americans.
The ingredients for frybread were provided to Native Americans to prevent them
from starving when they were moved (400 miles)
from areas where they could grow and forage their traditional foods (Arizona)
to areas that would not support their traditional
foods (New Mexico). Critics see the dish as
both a symbol of colonization and a symbol of resilience.
This is from Britannica.com: Fry bread is rich in fat and calories and has been cited as a factor contributing to health issues, such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension, among Native American peoples. Since it’s deep fried, I can see the health risks of making it a regular part of their diet. That led me to ask if frybread can be made in an air-fryer. Why, yes…yes, it can. Bookmarked a recipe and just might have to give it a try while we’re out here because we have an air-fryer with us.
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Hummingbird routine is back to normal with the Rufous gone. Occasionally
a male may run off another hummer if it comes to the same feeder, but that’s
typical behavior. Sitting in a tree, constantly watching and preventing others from
getting to any of the feeders…that’s more aggressive behavior.
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Surprise, surprise!...a bunny came into the yard this afternoon. Well,
actually it skirted around the edge of the yard, but it made an appearance. Climbed
in and out of the fence…I wonder if that’s a learned behavior or it just comes
naturally. Hopped through one more time before dark.
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Kim met the bicycling man yesterday. He’s fairly certain it’s not Sam
Elliott but the beard makes it difficult to be 100%. Said he’s a friendly chap,
though.
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On the way back to camp from the burrowing owl trip, Kim stopped at the
large canal near Harmon to run the drone over top of the canal all the way to
the frontage road. It was a test to see how far away it could go without losing
signal with the controller. The frontage
road is 2 ½ miles from where we were sitting and the drone and the controller were
still talking to each other. Of course, the desert is flat without tall trees
so there’s not a lot to interfere with the signal…in a different terrain, it
might not be able to go the same distance.
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Bobcat on the cell camera tonight. Not only that but from the audio, we
can hear that it ran into the camera. Another coyote (from behind) and a quail round out today’s cell camera
cameos.
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It’s a clear night, so there’s some telescope action going on. The target is the Heart Nebula. It’s the first time imaging since Kim deep cleaned his camera, so keeping the fingers crossed that the dark area that’s not supposed to be in the pictures is gone.
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