Friday, May 19, 2017

May 19, 2017 - Bird Street


Bird Street

Today was cold!  A surazo blew into town last night.  I was too cold to get out of bed and close the window, but around 7:00 I wrapped my blanket around me to go to the living room and write a blog I forgot to write.


The sky was so clear and the breeze so refreshing.  I could not stay inside, though it took me an hour to get myself over to Starbucks for my morning coffee.

Today I had a goal.  I wanted to visit Bird Street.  That is not really its name, but is a nickname I’ve given it.  I’ll explain later.


The first thing that struck me this morning was that the toborochis are all blooming.  My friend, Ceci, calls them her birthday tree.  Oh, Ceci, they were in beautiful form this morning.  Texas has its bluebonnets, and Santa Cruz its toborochis.  Today I noticed so many more that had escaped my attention before. 


My route this morning took me by the toborochis along Avenida las Americas, by the Colegio Don Bosco, and the Parque Urbano.  The Park was full of toborochis.  Hardly anybody was there this morning, mostly just the ladies cleaning the park. I decided this morning that the park has to be one of my regular morning routes.  It is beautiful and peaceful.  It is one of the places that makes me feel blessed to be where I am now.

At the opposite end of the Parque Urbano is Bird Street.  Actually, the name of the street is Tres Pasos al Frente, but the first time I encountered it, I saw shops with bird cages out front.  It is not just birds for sale, but pets of every kind.  There are fish, reptiles, guinea pigs, rabbits, kittens, puppies, and even rats.  My fingers were bathed by puppies this morning. 


Something they do in Bolivia that I find unique is grouping the same kind of business together in the same place.  If you need computer items, go to the Comerical Chiriguano.  If you want to buy rubber stamps go to Calle Ayacucho, near the Cañoto statue.  If you want to buy costumes, go to Calle Ballivian.  A block from the Plaza are a dozen office supply stores.  It will take me a few more years to discover where the places are to buy what I need.  But when I one day decide to get a pet, it is Bird Street.


There were parakeets and cockatiels.  Small parrots and pigeons.  Something that looked like a quail, but it wouldn’t stand still for me to get a good picture.  What quickly became my favorite is a bird the lady called a “Diamante de Gould.”  I looked it up on the internet and found it as a Gould’s finch or rainbow finch.  There seemed to be an endless variety to these birds that had such a pretty song.  Maybe one day I will buy a big cage and fill it with finches. 

It is now noon as I finish this blog.  The sun is still shining and there is a cool breeze blowing in from my window.  What a lovely day!



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