"another year over AND a new one just begun . . . " PART TWO-G-1 (Sept. 1st — Sept. 11th 2012)

Today's entry here on Blogger is part two-G-1 of a series of posts pertaining to a year-end review for special occurrences in my rooftop garden for the year 2012 (the schedule for this series is described in part one as well as part two-A of this topic) and, because September 2012 was the month when my garden went through so much upheaval, I will be posting the review for that month in three parts.

In today's entry I will be reviewing events that took place in the month of September during the time period of September 1st through September 11th for the year 2012. Tomorrow's (January 14th 2012) will deal with the events from September 12th — September 19th 2012, and on Tuesday, January the fifteenth of 2012, I will conclude September 2012's review!

So without further ado, I begin my September 1st — September 11th 2012 review and much to my delight, the month began with the return of my "lone" visiting cardinal, Cam. Her motive in visiting seemed to check out what I had to eat, as you might surmise from the images posted above. However, Cam also checked out yours truly as seen in the image below.

Cam would prove to be most delightful to photograph as evidenced by the number of images on two of my Pinterest Boards which you may view by clicking here as well as here.  Moreover, I've posted "stories" about her in a number of entries here on Blogger and within my tumblr pages. Additionally, Cam has become a "regular" on TLLG's Facebook Page.

However, Cam was not the only one who returned to my garden for some food in September of 2012, for September also saw a "lone" visiting bee - the first bee to visit my garden in the 2012 gardening season, who also came to nosh! This was a welcome surprise for me as I had enjoyed watching bees munching on my Echinacea as well as Hyssop in bygone years.

April 2019 is here...

... and in NYC it arrived with temperatures in the low thirties, prompting folks on the street to make reference to the weather being an April Fool's Day prank.

April is a month that T.S. Eliot proclaimed was the cruelest, that is part of a quotation (posted above) from The Wasteland, which is one I've referenced in prior entries here on Blogger; but today I came upon an interpretation of these words that really spoke to me and I hope they do the same for you, dear reader.

In an article for Node in the Global Mind, Chris Day responds to the question, What did T.S. Eliot mean when he said that April is the cruelest month (in his poem, The Waste Land)? Day states the following:

"Let's look at the first seven lines of the first stanza:

APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.

In the northern hemisphere, April is clasically associated with spring. This is classic Eliot topsy-turviness. April is cruel? How can April be cruel? It's spring; with flowers and mild weather and sex and love in the air. 

He's giving us an insight into a mind that doesn't revel in these things as might be expected. 'breeding/Lilacs out of the dead land' is a very heavy, depressed way to describe the blooming of flowers. He sees the same things as everyone else, but there is no joy there. 'mixing/Memory and desire, stirring/Dull roots with spring rain;' a sense of loss and longing, of being rooted in the past, and spring re-awakening memories of things that have passed. 

By comparison; 'Winter kept us warm' 'forgetful snow;' these things suggest a state of comfortable emotional hibernation.

An old literature teacher once put it thus; when your arm is numb, you don't feel it. But when the blood flows again, and the pins and needles come, suddenly you know about it. It's not (emotional) numbness that hurts; it's the return of feeling.

Anyone who has dealt with long-term depression can probably feel the connection to what Eliot is describing here, and it does a fantastic job of leading in to the rest of the poem, which deals excrutiatingly with depression and memory. 

In summary; April is the cruelest month because the life and color of spring throws one's depression into stark relief and forces painful memories to surface."

Day's interpretation of the first seven lines of Eliot's stanza rings true for me on a very personal level they remind me of  a poem by Emily Dickinson, which is about her first encounter with a robin in any given new year.

"another year over AND a new one just begun . . . " PART TWO-H-1 (Oct 1st — Oct 10th 2012)

Today's entry here on Blogger is part two-H-1 of a series of posts pertaining to a year-end review for special occurrences in my urban garden for the year 2012 (the schedule for this series is described in part one as well as part two-A of this topic) and, because October 2012 was the month Hurricane Sandy hit the area near to where I live, my garden went through another upheaval, so I will be posting the review for October in three parts.

"If it's Tuesday, it must be tumblr . . . " Week No. 34 (To Enter OR Not to Enter That IS the Question)

Last Wednesday, I attended an art show of someone who had been one of my teachers when I took classes at Apple's Upper Westside Store. She suggested that I submit certain images that I've taken (re the flowers in my garden) to a photographic competition honoring Georgia O'Keeffe, the prolific painter of flowers.

Although I have many images of flowers on my Pinterest Boards, I have also featured flower photo-ops here on Blogger, as well as in my entries on TLLG's Facebook Page, and tumblr posts, my former instructor's suggestion prompted me to view the flowers that are still remaining (it's fall so the number of flowers dwindles) in my urban (NYC) garden in a different manner, as evidenced by the image posted above, which I took this past weekend. This image features the very expressive Black and Blue Salvia which is still thriving in my garden.

While I'm flattered about the recommendation of my former instructor, I am not sure if I will enter the competition, as the entry fee is out of my reach momentarily, but I will see what happens as the deadline to enter it approaches.

In the meantime, since it's Tuesday, it means it must be tumblr in "TLLG Land," so, without further ado, the link to take you there can be found by clicking here.