Yesterday we went to the Park of the Canals that is located right in Mesa. Strangely, not many people who live here even know about this park. Look at these canals that were dug by the Southwest native Americans many centuries ago.
These canals were engineered with the Salt River so they could grow crops and feed their people.
Around 1450 A.D. the Hohokam mysteriously vanished, they do not know exactly what happened to them and the place went dormant. Mormon Pioneers entered the area and they cleaned out one of the ancient canals in 1878.
As well there was a botanical garden beside the canals. It has cactus' and desert plants from all over the world. It was a wonderful place to sit and look at the birds and feel the warm sun. We saw a hummingbird that was so big I argued that it was NOT a hummingbird when I saw it in the tree top. But when it took flight we knew that indeed it was a hummingbird. Some of them look almost as big as a wren and this one had a large dark head. We also saw a verdin which is the cutest, most playful little bird. No way to get a picture of these little devils but did get some nice views with the binoculars.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://fireflyforest.net/images/firefly/2007/February/Verdin-1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2007/02/01/verdin/&h=162&w=200&sz=1&tbnid=3rr4tRcNMwoDCM:&tbnh=129&tbnw=160&zoom=1&usg=__s6tIJ_2IrZG35S9BeGwno_0ptSg=&docid=EU0fyTiVJyAQMM&itg=1&sa=X&ei=95TvUNmWL-TB2wWMlYCYCg&ved=0CKkBEPwdMA8
This is an ocotillo. It is a desert plant that mostly looks like dead prickly wood sticks. Apparently it only gets leaves and also has a very showy red flower after a period of rain.
Today we drove into Phoenix because Don wanted to see the Tent City jail that the very strict sheriff runs here. We could not see much at all from the road and of course you can't just pull up and start checking out a jail anyway. Apparently you can make arrangements to tour the jail after you jump through a few hoops. I think taking the mass transit into Phoenix and taking this tour and walking the downtown might be a good thing to do. Big cities are just not on our list of fun places to drive in. One area we drove through looked very scary to see the least and we double checked to make sure the doors were locked.
We started to drive through the downtown area and then decided we would rather not but it was interesting all the same. Only got one picture.
Hohocam. LOL. Sounds a bit like some of that spam and pop up stuff I get now and then. Shouldn't make fun but it caught me silly, I can not even imagine how people could dig into that hard old earth. That must have taken decades. I wonder if when the water started to flow a bit it softened some of the dirt/clay/sand so they had an easier time of it?
ReplyDeleteHow come there is no water in there now? Is there ever or has it been redirected to other areas by more recent means?
What a cool place for a bird to have a nest in that skeleton of the cactus. I didn't know they would have those tall flat bamboo-like structures inside. Did you see what they felt like? Was it a bit like bamboo in texture?
That Peruvian Old man looks like it needs a little Viagra. They should be ... ah ...erm.. *ahem* erect and quite tall and green, not brown and fuzzy. That is all I am going to say on that .. er... prick... pokey subject.
I remember hearing about that jail where they lived in tents and were expected to work and earn their keep. Didn't know it was around where you are.
It was actually 0C here last week one day. I had to take my mitts off, then my hat, then my parka lol. Pretty soon I was down to a hoodie and boots shoveling. I guess it's all what you get used to. The Inuit probably laugh at us. When its 0C up there they likely go swimming.
Where are we going today?
Ya it does sound a little Hokey but very interesting. I need to find me a museum about these people! They connected the canals to the Salt river. They are not in use for any purpose now and water is precious so they are not connected up to the river. Kind of like the "canals" we dig in the spring to redirect the run off so it drains away. They have 2 major canal systems in Mesa. I am not sure if there was a nest in the dead cactus. It is very woody, I thought it was cool, seems cactus should be all porous and liquid inside (although I don't know why I thought that as there would not be any water in them duh!) I figured the poor old man had probably seen better days but it was just too funny not to post.
ReplyDeleteDon't know what to do today - I want to go to the arboreetum but Don thinks its too cold - WIMP thanks for reading and writing ( I love reading your comments hee hee)
Heard that you would have to put on your snugglies because some cold weather was near you. Just when we are finally getting a break. Good evening to get the DVD out and watch old movies. Save some warm weather for Kylie when she links up with you and for us in Feb.
ReplyDeleteQuite the hike through the canals - there are even benches! I think they used cactus to sastisfy the thirst in an emergency when people were out in the desert in "olden times". There is a lot of beauty in the desert - you just have to look for it.