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Monday, February 29, 2016

A Favorite Food of Cardinals



Cam, the female cardinal seen in the first image above this entry, loves to nosh on black-oil sunflower seeds when in my urban (NYC) rooftop garden (seen in the second image). 

This is one of the many facts about wild birds that Cam discusses in her book, Words In Our Beak,Volume One which is now in Apple's iBooks Store as well as on Amazon. Additionally, there are reviews for Words In Our Beak Volume One available on Goodreads. Moreover, information related to the book is posted on Brian Lehrer's (of WNYC) A New York Values Vision Board.

Words In Our Beak's goal is to open readers to a simple understanding of the winged world and their environment. Set in my rooftop urban garden in New York City, my story is told in the voice of Cam, a female cardinal, who visits it. Words In Our Beak is directed to children and adults who are curious about birds, and want to learn about them from a unique perspective. The book includes hundreds of images of flora and fauna, links to movies, as well as to informative narratives that have been created by the author.

ADENMENDUM: The digital versions of Volume One within the Words In Our Beak book series that are mentioned in this entry may only remain available for a limited time, but a hardcover version of Volume One can be found wherever books are sold.

Moreover, Volume Two of the book series is now available! Both volumes one and two are in hardcover format (as seen below) and can be purchased any place where books are sold.


Here's the purchase info for the hardcover versions of the Words In Our Beak book series:

Volume One: ISBN: 9780996378529:
Book Seller Info: http://bit.ly/2AFZDCz
Barnes & Noble On-Line: http://bit.ly/2AAnB26
book culture On Columbus: http://bit.ly/2FsC1Uf

Volume Two: ISBN: 9780996378536
Book Seller Info: http://bit.ly/2q75g8e
Barnes & Noble On-Line: http://bit.ly/2G65m6H

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Cam and Brian Lehrer's NY Values Vision Board


The image above today's entry is from WNYC's "A New York Values Board." I have included it with this entry as I am thrilled to announce that one of my images of Cam (posted below), with a passage from her book, Words In Our Beak Volume One , has been accepted to be on Brian Lehrer's WNYC's A New York Values Board.


Please go to the link, scroll until you see Cam, and if you feel it worthy of your liking — and there is an option to do so — I would truly appreciate it! AND if Cam was still around, I'm SURE she'd appreciate it too!

Monday, February 22, 2016

A Post In Honor of George Washington's Birthday




Last Monday, February 15th, our nation celebrated Presidents' Day. It is a holiday that is celebrated here on the third Monday in February. The holiday of President's Day was originally established in 1885 in honor of President George Washington, and was traditionally celebrated on February twenty-second, the actual birthday date of George Washington, which is today.

According to history.com, "the holiday became popularly known as President's Day after it was moved as part of 1971's Uniform Holiday Act, an attempt to create more three day weekends for the nation's workers." 

Be that as it may, George Washington's was born on February the twenty-second, and the switching of the day to observe this, was a topic E. B. White wrote about in his correspondence with Gluyas Williams in 1971. White's humorous attitude toward our government's switching the celebration is something I discussed in my post this past President's Day and I included E.B. White's musings on the matter. On another note, George Washington has been linked to the creation of our American flag, and that is the reason I'm including photo-ops of my patriotic friends within my entry for GeorgeWashington's birthday.    



However, it seems there is some controversy over Washington's involvement with the creation of our flag, which you can read about in a Wiki Page by clicking here. For my focus in this blog post honoring George Washington's birthday is to provide information on an interest I share with him which is birds.

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Frigid Temps are for the Birds!




Sometimes the wild birds that visit my urban (NYC) garden as well as the Ailanthus trees in the adjacent courtyard, got a break from being scrutinized by yours truly though the lens of my camera. This is because I go down by the river side to see how the Canadian geese are faring in the freezing waters of Hudson River. These photo-ops show how this bird type responded to the conditions occurring in the river.

It seems Canadian geese are good candidates for The Polar Bear Swimmers!
The Polar Bear Swimmers are a group of folks that always ring in a given new year by swimming in the bitter cold wintery Atlantic Ocean at Coney Island.
Info on The Polar Bear Swimmers can be found by clicking here.

Some info on the Canadian geese who frequent the Hudson River  can be found by clicking here as well as here.

Friday, February 19, 2016

In Honor of Harper Lee's Passing 2-19-16



Even though Atticus Finch said (in the novel #ToKillAMockingbird) that it was OK to ‘Kill all the bluejays you want….’ my blue jays mourn ‪#‎HarperLee‬’s passing as do I. She died today and in her honor, I’m offering a link to a post (on Fb) that featured how Ms. Lee had time to kill in order to write #ToKillAMockingbird.

Monday, February 15, 2016

Switching Holidays

Patricia Youngquist uses words and images to tell stories about her passions. Based in New York, she currently is authoring a series of nature books on birds of the city. Now in Apple’s iBooks store AND it’s on Amazon.

I have something to share with you on this Presidents Day, which is a "copy" of an excerpt from a letter that the writer E.B. White wrote to Gluyas Williams in 1971:
"I am not used to celebrating Washington’s birthday on the 15th of February, so I walked up early this morning and deposited letters in our mailbox. Then had to return and retrieve them an hour later when it dawned on me the mails weren’t moving today, even though George is still locked up tight in his mother’s womb and won’t emerge for a full week. This country is nuts. The only date I would like to see shifted is December 25th, which I would like shifted to February 29th, so that occurs only once every four years. This would have a profoundly beneficial effect on the nation and would set me back even course again."
The letter is included in an anthology, "Letters of E.B. White," and a picture of the book accompanies this entry.

Thankfully, Elaine was wrong!



Well, since it's nearly 4:00 AM in NYC on February the 15th of 2016, I think it's safe to say that Elaine, the psychic who appeared on Peter Venkman's TV show,"World of the Psychic," was wrong re her premonition which, as you just heard, was this: “According to my source, the end of the world will be on February 14, in the year 2016.” Thankfully, it appears the world did not end last night as Elaine had thought it would.

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Library Lovers Day

Patricia Youngquist uses words and images to tell stories about her passions. Based in New York, she currently is authoring a series of nature books on birds of the city. Now in Apple’s iBooks store AND it’s on Amazon.

Today in addition to it being the holiday of Ystävänpäivä in Finland and Sõbrapäev in Estonia, as well as Valentines Day in most places, it's Library Lovers Day!
And one of my favorite libraries is the moveable library at Long Beach In New York, which can be seen in the first picture accompanying this Blogger entry. But since it's only nine degrees today I have no plans to visit it today.
However, once it gets warmer I hope to Long Beach, donate some books to the library, and enjoy the antics of the beach-bum birds!


Patricia Youngquist uses words and images to tell stories about her passions. Based in New York, she currently is authoring a series of nature books on birds of the city. Now in Apple’s iBooks store AND it’s on Amazon.

Patricia Youngquist uses words and images to tell stories about her passions. Based in New York, she currently is authoring a series of nature books on birds of the city. Now in Apple’s iBooks store AND it’s on Amazon.

Patricia Youngquist uses words and images to tell stories about her passions. Based in New York, she currently is authoring a series of nature books on birds of the city. Now in Apple’s iBooks store AND it’s on Amazon.


Happy Valentines Day to You & Yours!

Patricia Youngquist uses words and images to tell stories about her passions. Based in New York, she currently is authoring a series of nature books on birds of the city. Now in Apple’s iBooks store AND it’s on Amazon.

Happy Valentine’s Day, dear reader, from me, as well as the entourage of whimsical characters who have graciously been lending their voices to my social media entries since February 1st 2016.

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

For A Prisoner of Love

Patricia Youngquist uses words and images to tell stories about her passions. Based in New York, she currently is authoring a series of nature books on birds of the city. Now in Apple’s iBooks store AND it’s on Amazon
Ever since February 1st 2016, in honor of Valentine’s Day prep, I have been sharing the stories (here and on Blogger as well as Fb) of an array of whimsical characters who have come to visit me during this time period. Since today is already February 10th and Valentine’s Day is only four days away, they will be leaving soon, and in anticipation of this, one of my whimsical characters has confided in me that he is a prisoner of love, and cannot seem to get the key to his girl’s heart. This character has apparently heard #Delilah on the radio as he knows she plays songs to help her callers to cope with their (mostly) love life situations. Because he could not get through her busy phone lines, he asked ME to play a song to help him understand his situation, and I thought of “Prisoner In Love,” the instrumental version by Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster.

Monday, February 8, 2016

The Year of The Monkey

Patricia Youngquist uses words and images to tell stories about her passions. Based in New York, she currently is authoring a series of nature books on birds of the city. Now in Apple’s iBooks store AND it’s on Amazon.

Patricia Youngquist uses words and images to tell stories about her passions. Based in New York, she currently is authoring a series of nature books on birds of the city. Now in Apple’s iBooks store AND it’s on Amazon.

Patricia Youngquist uses words and images to tell stories about her passions. Based in New York, she currently is authoring a series of nature books on birds of the city. Now in Apple’s iBooks store AND it’s on Amazon.


Happy Chinese New Year to you and yours, dear reader. I guess you know that in their calendar, tis The Year of The Monkey.

Perhaps Julius The Sock Monkey is happy about this news, for any time  it’s the year of a given animal, folks begin to think more about that animal type.

However, Julius The Sock Monkey may not need The Year Of The Monkey as an excuse to endear others to him. After all, he has notoriety from being the fictional character created by cartoonist and fashion designer, Paul Frank. And he appears in a variety of media today, including The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Remembering Bob Marley

Patricia Youngquist uses words and images to tell stories about her passions. Based in New York, she currently is authoring a series of nature books on birds of the city. Now in Apple’s iBooks store AND it’s on Amazon.

Yesterday, in addition to it being eight days before Valentines Day, and two days before the onset of The Year of The Monkey in this 2016 Chinese New Year, as well as one day before the Super Bowl (which I know NOTHING about); it is the birthdate of Bob Marley. (He was born in 1945 and died in 1981.)

Mr. Marley is known for many quotations and songs, but one that is fitting for me at this time is "Three Little Birds."

Saturday, February 6, 2016

"Perfect love sometimes does not come until after the first grandchild." REPRISED

Patricia Youngquist uses words and images to tell stories about her passions. Based in New York, she currently is authoring a series of nature books on birds of the city. Now in Apple’s iBooks store AND it’s on Amazon.

Once upon a time, here on blogger, I pointed out that according to a Welsh proverb, "perfect love sometimes does not come until after the first grandchild."
And I stated that I "imagine perfect love probably comes with any grandchild, or child for that matter (although I have neither, and my maternal instincts are mainly exercised in the extreme care I offer in tending my terrace garden as well as tending to the needs of the birds that visit it). In any event, whether perfect love comes with the first grandchild or not, the fact that I am my maternal grandparents' first grandchild causes me to like to believe that the proverb is true! Not only am I my grandparents' first grandchild, but I was born on their wedding anniversary!"
In any event, my wonderful grandmother died a number of years ago, but before she passed, she said to me that I "should get back to writing,"  which I finally am.
And if she were alive today, I would certainly give her a copy of the book, "Words In Our Beak Volume One," which Cam, the cardinal  who visits my urban (NYC) garden, wrote with me.
If, dear reader, you are fourtunate enough to still have your grandmother, you might want to consider giving her the gift of Cam, which according to my "love birds" makes a wonderful Valentines gift!
Perhaps some of you are grandparents, and if so, you must know all about perfect love and grandchildren bringing it into your lives! Since children have also enjoyed Cam, you might want to consider expressing your love for your grandchildren by sharing Cam with them for Valentines Day.
The V day holiday is only eight days away so I'm just sayin....


ADDENDUM FALL 2018: 

The non-hardcover version (or versions)  of Volume One within the Words In Our Beak book series that are mentioned in this entry may only remain available for a limited time, but hardcover versions of Volume One, Two and Three can now be found wherever books are sold. Please click here to go to my blog post that provides details as to where you can get these books.

MY BOOK SERIES

Additionally, I have rendered some images from these books into other formats and they are available via Fine Art America (FAA). Some of my other photographs (Black & White Collection, Kaleidoscopic Images and the famous Mandarin duck who visited NYC) can also be found on my FAA pages.

Thursday, February 4, 2016

News About SONIC!

Patricia Youngquist uses words and images to tell stories about her passions. Based in New York, she currently is authoring a series of nature books on birds of the city. Now in Apple’s iBooks store AND it’s on Amazon.Sonic, the hedgehog can be seen here, in a photo from bygone years where she is racing along the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade route!
And to think I nearly forgot that February 2nd's holiday of ‪#‎GroundhogDay‬ was Sonic's day too! She shares this day with a groundhog because the animal type she represents was the first ever to be given the task of predicting the onset of spring!
I spoke about this on Fb earlier this week.

But Sonic has other things to celebrate besides the commonality of hedgehogs and groundhogs serving as predictors of the onset of spring! 

Sonic the Hedgehog's media presence occurred on February 2nd, albeit a number of years ago, and this ultimately led to her likeness being rendered into a Macy's balloon!

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Sending in the clowns...

Patricia Youngquist uses words and images to tell stories about her passions. Based in New York, she currently is authoring a series of nature books on birds of the city. Now in Apple’s iBooks store AND it’s on Amazon.

Patricia Youngquist uses words and images to tell stories about her passions. Based in New York, she currently is authoring a series of nature books on birds of the city. Now in Apple’s iBooks store AND it’s on Amazon.

Patricia Youngquist uses words and images to tell stories about her passions. Based in New York, she currently is authoring a series of nature books on birds of the city. Now in Apple’s iBooks store AND it’s on Amazon.

Last week at this time, John Montone from 1010 WINS was calling out to Mayor De Blasio to "send in the plows," to areas of Queens that were still buried under snow from the ‪#‎blizzardjonasnyc‬jonas. Readers of this blog may recall that yours truly was interviewed by John Montone regarding one of my art exhibitions. In any event, I'm not sure if De Blasio heeded the call to "send in the plows," but and he did not even meet with ‪#‎StatenIslandChuck‬ this morning, in honor of #Groundhog Day to witness his prediction re the onset of spring for 2016.
And in spite of the fact that we had 28.5 inches of snow fall in parts of NYC on 1-23-16— Chuck "predicted" that spring will arrive early this year.

Maybe Chuck's a people pleaser, telling te crowds what they want to hear, as do some prophets. But as I said earlier today, in an entry on Facebook,"The groundhog is like most other prophets; it delivers its prediction and disappears."

In any event, rather spring will come early or not, remains to be seen, but one thing is certain, ‪#‎ValentinesDay‬ will come in twelve days, on February 14, 2016.

Therefore, I am sending in the clowns (that are already visiting me for this upcoming holiday), to my Fb community as a reminder that there are not too many days to get the ones you love something for Valentines Day.

And I'm following the advice of some lovebirds who visited me yesterday! They suggested that folks give the ones they love the gift of Cam (via her book, "Words In Our Beak Volume One," for #ValentinesDay! Info @https://www.facebook.com/TheLastLeafGardener/photos/a.355589574490422.73015.247917655257615/930275623688478/?type=3&theater