It's beginning to look a lot like Autumn! (Tuesday's Truths WK 223)

Welcome to my 223rd episode of my Tuesday's Truths series. As you undoubtedly know, dear reader, tomorow is the first day of fall and my truth for this segment is this: 

It is beginning to look a lot like autumn in my rooftop garden (a partial view of it is featured in the image atop this entry).

The photo directly belows shows that my Crepe myrtle seems to enjoy this time of year, evidenced by her brilliant pink blooms.

This next picture indicates that my Pyracantha coccinea (AKA Orange Charmer) is looking marvelous after Juan V pruned her. She knows that she has bragging rights for she is featured in my first garden-themed movie, The Kiwi Speaks Fifteen Minutes of Fame...almost (which can be viewed on Vimeo and/or You Tube.)

My Sweet Autumn Clematis was also included in the aforementioned movie and in the image directly below, she can be found climbing up a trellis and sporting her white flowers, with many more waiting to bloom as evidenced by the many buds she is "wearing."

Another "character" in my aforementioned movie is my Japanese Red Maple who is honored to share his home (container) with pumpkins and squashes.

Not ones to be out done by others, both my Anemone and Contorted Hazelnut are flourishing (and have many buds) too, as seen in the next picture.

Up next is a photo-op of my Smoke bush who is thrilled to be sharing her container with an array of pumpkins and a few squashes.

My Beech tree  (below) is especially happy for the opportunity to share her container with pumpkins — particularly since she suffered severe trauma when my landlord hacked her back in May.

Additionally, my Coral Bells Heuchera is thrilled to stand alongside my "urban hedge" (metal custom shelving currently being occupied by a number of pumpkins and squashes).

All of the aforementioned flora and much more that grows here are featured in each version of my books which have "Words In Our Beak" in their title.

Arbor Day 2021

I’ve had my dear crabapple tree (a detail from her foliage is featured in the image atop this entry) growing in my garden since March of 2016 and she continues to bring me pleasure. 

This year after a rough winter, she came back in March and I wrote about this fact here on Blogger. Moreover, I published another post about her this past Friday.

She is one of the the four trees growing in my place (the others are a Beech Tree, a Japanese Larch and a Japanese Red Maple).

Friday's Fact: Today is the ninth day for National Poetry Month 2021.

It's Day 9 of 2021's National Poetry Month and as always, Odgen Nash (whose poem is featured in the text-based image atop this entry) has got this. I think of his poem often, and yesterday was far from an exception, upon my spotting a blooming tree (featured within the next sequence of photographs) when I was in Central Park.

I confess that I'm having trouble id-ing this beauty and plan to reach out to the Park's Department for help, but in the interim, any TLLG blog readers out there know the type of tree pictured here?

On another note I have a few trees in my rooftop garden, including a flowering one known as a Crabapple Tree.

Sunday's Sentiment: Remembering my Grandfather's Appreciating Trees

My maternal grandfather, Albert Elmer Herman Lewis Melahn, can be seen in an unndated snapshot (directly above) with a tree he had just planted. He died in the mid to late 1970's on this day of January 24th.

My Pumpkin Patch

PUMPKINS ON MY URBAN HEDGE VIEW ONE 

PUMPKINS ON MY URBAN HEDGE VIEW TWO

I now have a pumpkin patch in my rooftop garden! The photo atop this entry shows views of pumpkins atop one of my urban hedges.

The Anemones, the Onion flowers and the Crepe myrtle, are all in bloom again! (Tuesday's Truths WK 193)

ANEMONES ARE FEATURED IN A FEW POSTS ON THIS BLOG 

ANEMONES ARE FEATURED IN A FEW POSTS ON THIS BLOG 

For this week's episode (which is #193) of my Tuesday's Truths series, I'd like to tell you that a sign indicating the fall season is well on its way to NYC —albeit not officially until over one month from now on September 22 2020 — is appearing in my rooftop garden: My autumn Anemones are starting to bloom again, as evidenced by the photo-ops atop this entry which I took this past Saturday morning, August 15 2020.

As you may know, dear reader, this garden is the setting for my book series, Words In Our Beak and numerous varieties of flora are discussed within them...

MY BOOK SERIES

... however, at the time of these books were published, I was not growing Anemones but during those years I did admire this flower variety whenever I was it flourishing within gardens in my 'hood and nearby parks.

Finally in late 2018 and throughout 2019, I began to grow my own and continue to be awestruck by their appearance in my place. I'm hardly alone in my feelings about this flower type.

Still Taking Time to Watch the Leaves Turn

THIS JAPANESE MAPLE IS FEATURED IN VOL 1

THIS JAPANESE MAPLE IS FEATURED IN VOL 1

THIS JAPANESE MAPLE IS FEATURED IN VOL 1

Raindrops keep falling on my leaves, but that, as the song (sung by B.J. Thomas) goes, "doesn't mean my eyes will be turning red, no cryings not for me..."

Instead I am continuing to heed the wisdom of Elizabeth Lawrence when I spend time in my garden — even on rainy days, which is a fact I've mentioned in previous posts here on Blogger.

Ms. Lawrence is known to remind folks that "even if something is left undone, everyone must take time to sit still and watch the leaves turn."

Not only have I taken the time to watch the leaves turn, I've taken the time to appreciate "raindrops on foliage," as evidenced in the pictures accompanying this entry featuring leaves from my Japanese Maple (AKA 'Tamukeyama').

How My Garden Grows (Partially)

MY ROOFTOP GARDEN

As I said in yesterday's blog post, I've been very distracted by the ramifications of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic and now by the demonstrations/curfews taking place in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd.

I also confessed it is high time (and even past high time) to think about the beauty in my garden such as this geranium variety (seen in the photograph atop this entry) as well as details of the foliage on my Japanese Red Maple, (a tree which is featured in volume one of my book series, Words In Our Beak).

THE JAPANESE RED MAPLE IS FEATURED IN VOL ONE

THE JAPANESE RED MAPLE IS FEATURED IN VOL ONE

THE JAPANESE RED MAPLE IS FEATURED IN VOL ONE

And to reiterate what I've been saying here on Blogger, "During this time where many people are confined to their homes due to lockdown restrictions (re the coronavirus pandemic), these books (whose stories are set in my rooftop garden) are great to have around as a reminder that there is still so much beauty in our fallen world."

MY THREE VOLUME BOOK SERIES

A Rainy Day in my Garden

THE JAPANESE MAPLE IS FEATURED IN "WORDS IN OUR BEAK"

Raindrops keep falling on my leaves,"but that doesn't mean my eyes will be turning red, no cryings not for me;" instead I am continuing to heed the wisdom of Elizabeth Lawrence when I spend time in my garden — even on rainy days!

Ms. Lawrence is known to remind folks that "even if something is left undone, everyone must take time to sit still and watch the leaves turn."

Not only have I taken the time to watch the leaves turn, I've taken the time to appreciate "rain drops on foliage," as evidenced in the pictures atop this entry featuring leaves from my Japanese Maple (AKA 'Tamukeyama') as well as leaves from my Smoke Bush.

Friday in the Octave of Easter & Arbor Day

Today is Friday in The Octave of Easter; and because it is the last Friday in April, it is also Arbor Day. I've always appreciated Patrick McDonnell's (creator of the Mutts comic strip) "take" re this event and have posted a copy of it atop this entry. As you can see, McDonnell's characters Earl and Mooch seem to know how much birds appreciate trees as evidenced in their planting one, which is appreciated by an avian creature.

I have also planted trees in containers that are in my rooftop garden and have not only been blessed by the beauty they bring to my place; as well as by their often unspoken help to our environment; many birds have come to visit because of them...

Monday's Memo: It's N'tl Napping day!

I beg to differ with Mooch on this first Monday in Day Light Savings Time (DLST) the future is getting here fast enough...

HEY! HEY! HEY! It's Garden Meditation Day!

MY GARDEN IS THE SETTING FOR "WORDS IN OUR BEAK"

Earlier today I posted my tandem tale for the week and since that time it has been brought to my attention that today is Garden Meditation Day.

According to Holiday Insights (HI), "Per C.L, Fornari, the creator of this special day: Garden meditation day honors the fact that when we're working in the landscape we have the opportunity, if we choose to take it, to let the rest of the world fall away." 

Therefore. in honor of Garden Meditation Day, I've posted an image atop this entry which features a partial view of how my rooftop garden looks on this "holiday."

Arbor Day 2018

Today is Arbor Day and as you can see in the Mutts comic strip atop this entry, Mooch and Earl are celebrating it by planting a tree, much to the delight of a bird! Unfortunately, for me, my Arbor Day is being spent with one less tree in my rooftop garden.

Yesterday when Juan V was here to help me with flora placement after I de-winterized my garden, we discovered that my Acer palmatum (AKA 'Shisitatsu' Sawa), a type of maple tree which I have had since 2008 or 2009, had to be  uprooted for the tree had died.

Monday Musings: N'tl Napping Day & DLST

CAM, THE NARRATOR OF "WIOB" GETS HER BEAUTY SLEEP

It's the Monday after the onset of 2018's Daylight Savings Time (DLST) and Cam, my visiting cardinal (pictured above where she is taking a nap under the 'Tamukeyama' which grows in a container that's within my rooftop garden).

This is a picture of Cam that you might recognize as I've featured it in a prior post here on Blogger, and if you have read volume one of her book series, Words In Our Beak (which can be seen in the image directly below), you might recall that it is featured at the conclusion of her story.

SEE PRESS RELEASE

In any  event, Cam has brought it to my attention that any Monday occurring after the onset of DLST, is considered to be a holiday known as National Napping Day.

According to a web-page, "National Napping Day is observed annually the day following the return of daylight saving time.  National Napping Day provides everyone with the opportunity to have a nap and catch up on the hour of sleep they lost due to the spring forward time change."

The aforementioned page goes on to explain the history of this holiday stating: "William Anthony, Ph.D., a Boston University Professor and his wife, Camille Anthony, created National Napping Day in 1999 as an effort to spotlight the health benefits to catching up on quality sleep."

Anthony and his wife proclaim,“We chose this particular Monday because Americans are more ‘nap-ready’ than usual after losing an hour of sleep to daylight saving time."

I confess that I've never heard of National Napping Day, but there is no time like the present to take advantage of it! And just to make sure that I don't miss any more National Napping Days going forward, I've made a list of when they will occur in the coming years.

I've posted the list below for your convenience, dear reader:

March 12, 2018

March 11, 2019

March 9, 2020

March 15, 2021

March 14, 2022

March 13, 2023

March 11, 2024

March 09, 2025

Meanwhile, I hope to get a nap in on this National Napping Day, and if you are so inclined, I suggest that you take one too!

ADDENDUM FALL 2018: 

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 hardcover versions of Volume One, Two and Three can now be found wherever books are sold.

MY BOOK SERIES

Please click here to go to my blog post that provides details as to where you can get these books. 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.

ADDENDUM SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER 2021:

When the third volume of the hard-cover version of Words In Our Beak was released, I withdrew from promoting my former versions of Words In Our Beak. 

The very first one is an iBook and went into Apple's book store in 2015.

This was followed by an ePub version...

... that is available on Amazon and was also published in 2015.

Subsequently, Words In Our Beak's digital versions were published as a soft-cover book (with slight variations) by MagCloud in 2017.

Its press release can be read by clicking here.  

Now with the release of BIRD TALES....

... I've been advised to make mention of my early versions of volume one of Words In Our Beak, they do vary ever so slightly in content from the hard-cover version of volume one.

As of this addendum, I do not intend to create digital or soft-cover versions of Words In Our Beak Volume Two or Words In Our Beak Volume Three.

Tuesday's Truths WK 69: "Dreary Days and Mondays..."

STORIES IN "WORDS IN OUR BEAK ARE SET IN MY GARDEN"

As of now, Verizon has fixed the Internet snafus that have been occurring, so, I'm back to my posting here on Blogger, and I'm just in time for week seventy-one of my Tuesday's Truths series.

I come to it with this thought: a well known pop song, Rainy Days and Mondays, which was sung by the late Karen Carpenter is on my mind, because yesterday was a very dreary Monday in NYC.

Part of the lyrics in Carpenter's song state, "... Hangin' around Nothin' to do but frown. Rainy days and Mondays always get me down..."

While it wasn't rainy in NYC yesterday, it certainly was dreary (and still is today), but I couldn't afford to let dreary days and Mondays get me down, or let any day get me down for that matter; and that is this  truth for my seventy-first posting in this series!

Today's WW* is influenced by St. Francis's love of animals (*Wednesday's Wisdom)

The young cardinal who is facing forward in the photograph atop this blog entry, is named Frannie for Saint Francis of Assisi, whose feast day is today, October the fourth.

He is the patron saint of animals, ecology, as well as merchants; and he is represented in my home by a small statue which is on the book shelves above my desk (this can be seen in the next picture, where his figurine is at the far left).

In any event, Frannie was given this name by her mother, Cam; and within the image above this posting, Frannie can be seen spending time in one of her favorite places, the container which is home to my 'Tamukeyama', and on either side of her are house finches.

The green foliage that you see belongs to my Actinida kolomikta and Actimida (Kiwi Vines), who are the stars of my first urban garden-themed movie, The Kiwi Speaks! Fifteen Minutes of Fame...almost; which can be viewed within my You Tube channel. Cam, as you may know is the author of the book, Words In Our Beak Volume One. 

Relaxing on Labor Day

In honor of Labor Day, Cam, "my" female cardinal, spends time taking some much needed rest under a 'Tamukeyama' that's in my rooftop garden.

Here's Tuesday's Truths WK 52: How the plant known as Tricyrtis, came to be referred to as a Toad Lily

Hello, and welcome to the fifty-first week of my Tuesday's Truths series, where I will shed light on how the plant known as Tricyrtis, came to be referred to as a Toad Lily. Details of the flowers from this exquisite plant (which was recently planted in my rooftop garden by Juan V) can be seen in the images atop this blog entry.

However, before I go into detail re this awesome flower, let me digress a bit, and apologize for not posting an entry for week fifty-three of my Tuesday's Truths series! Unfortunately, the truth for that day, which was August 1st, is that I did not feel well, due to an injury I sustained to my right foot.

Therefore I was preoccupied with the logistics of getting my boot cast to fit properly and other pesky details associated with recovery from my injury! But if truth be told, and it's about to, what I had planned to point out that day was the fact that the beginning of this month of August was a good time to point out that (according to a web-news page) "there are almost 4 million newborns delivered each year in the United States. Of that amount, 9.05% (or 353,000) babies are born in August alone, making it the biggest month for births. July comes in second with 349,000 births, followed by September."

A number of years ago, I was one of those 353,000 born in August. Moreover, I was born on a Tuesday, which, according to the aforementioned source, is "the most common day of the week for little bundles of joy to be delivered is Tuesday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention find that on average there are 12,323 births on Tuesdays, with Wednesday and Thursday close behind."

Be that as it may, I admit that this news may not be particularly relevant to those of you who read urban related blogs; but, hey, you never know when the topic might come up in conversation; and you also never know when you might be selected to be on the game show Jeopardy, with details of birth months and days of births being a category worth mega bucks.

And, now that what I would've written on the fifty-third week for Tuesday's Truths is out of the way, I'll move on to my intention for the truth re this fifty-fourth week, and tell you a little bit about the back story of the Tricyrtis flowering plant being nicknamed "toad lily."

Friday Feeling: I've been thankful for a NEW association re cardinals.

Here's a female cardinal about to indulge in one of many grapes which I've placed on a saucer in my rooftop garden for the dining pleasure of the birds who visit me.

She may be related to Cam, the female cardinal who authored the book, Words In Our Beak.

As many who follow my cyber-venues, Cam is very near and dear to my heart.

Moreover, she has taught me a number of things re the many members of the avian community, especially her bird type. Prior to my meeting Cam, I was not too familiar with female cardinals.

I knew about the male cardinal as he is the state bird of Illinois where I spent my childhood through early adulthood years.