Today was a very interesting day.
I was invited to a Clothing Exchange party. The concept is that a bunch of women who had nice clothes they didn’t wear, would bring all the clothes to one spot and then it would be a free exchange of clothes freeforall!
The concept of recycling nice clothes that I hardly wore to friends made it easier to let go of several items that I’d clung to just because they were hardly worn or expensive. So, I brought about 10 hanging items, some nice shoes that didn’t fit or were too high-heeled and a purse that I didn’t use. Since we just moved, I really didn’t have any excess stuff – or so I thought. I bet I could have filled a few bags of Hubby’s stuff, too…
Anyway, on the way to the Clothing Freeforall, I decided to go to the Fairgrounds and visit the Exotic Bird Mart.
The is the photo of the Clothing Swap. A group of ladies invite friends to bring in nice, clean clothes/bags/shoes/anything they no longer wore but thought were really nice and should be passed onward. You bring your clothes, hand them up – and you are able to take whatever you want – FREE. Inside, they had fresh made food and water. It was very nice. The best part was watching the clothes that I had bought finding their new homes. Yay!
THE EXOTIC BIRD MART.
I know nothing about birds, but they do fascinate me. I saw a freeway banner that advertised the “Exotic Bird Mart” this weekend so I thought I’d go to the mart and meet bird people.
And, I did. Bird people are very different from dog people and cat people, but they are also very similar. I think you know what I mean…
Anyway, I’m guessing that this Exotic Bird Mart was pretty small. I was able to walk around it in about 10 minutes. I guess if I knew what I was looking for or at, it would have made a difference. But for me, all I did was figure out what color/shape birds I liked and then I tried to decide if they were healthy.
I also watched people buy birds. I found that very interesting to see who purchased what. A lot of finches were sold.
Below I’ve added several photos. Please forgive me if I post a politically incorrect bird photo. I don’t know healthy from unhealthy (except the obvious). So, please be kind with my avian ignorance.
Yup, it was a small, homestyle bird mart…
I thought this little guy was beautiful. He wouldn’t look at me.
Of course, there was a ton of bird feeds and accessories – just like horses…
This looked like a regular chicken to me.. but he was the only one there so I took this photo.
He was scratching his beak but he stopped when he saw me looking at him.
Handsome guy…
You can see all the cages for sale in the background. Most were marked down 60%. Times must be tough for cage vendors…
This guy kept pacing…
And pacing…
And pacing.
Finally he stopped.
Interesting Trio. They look like an avian rock band.
These guys looked bright and healthy to me.
The one who is bending over kept saying, “Kisses, Kisses”. I loved him.
These two were very pretty. Finally the one turned and looked at me.
I was captivated by these two and their dark coloring. I noted the spray bottle and wondered if they were loud.
Supermodel birds!
AND THEN A FIRE BROKE OUT NEAR THE CLOTHING SWAP!
Oh my goodness … someone had a very bad day today. No one was hurt, but it looked like part of the nearby apartment building was burned. Luckily, the tiny house in front was not damaged.
Here’s the story:
So, I had just entered the clothing swap and taken that one photo, when a plume of black smoke covered the sky.
We ran out and saw that a house or something was burning FAST.
I called 911 and the operator answered by asking if I was calling about the tree and fence on fire on Whitley Drive. I said YES! (They must have tracked my phone to know where I was…) She said that it was already reported and they were on their way.
I swear, it seemed like it took forever for the FD to arrive. It was only 3 blocks away… but for some reason, it took a while.
In that time, people started to gather to watch. The houses in front looked like no one was home. There was no activity inside.
I was afraid a propane tank would blow or a BBQ propane tank… so I went back to my car to move it. As I did that, the police arrived and blocked my departure. As I sat there in my car, FINALLY people came out of the houses in front of the fire. We couldn’t believe it that they had been in there with this huge fire raging behind their houses and they didn’t hear, smell or see it. I was also surprised that the police and FD didn’t band on their doors to evacuate them.
Anyway, the FD put the fire out. I don’t know the damage but we did hear that it started in the alley between houses.
This was the first photo I took. No one had gathered yet. I had already called 911 as did several others.
It felt like forever before the police and FD arrived. We were all so helpless just sitting there watching. One guy turned his hose on the fire as we waited.
The blaze got pretty scary… Here it was, leaping onto the roof of the apartment building. The tiny houses in front had people in them that didn’t know this was happening! They finally came out after a good 10 minutes!
NO ONE WAS HURT.
I was glad to go home and hug my animals… :)
