"YA-BUH-DA-BUH-DUE"

Because I have missed a couple of days of posting re my garden upheaval, I thought I'd post today even though it's not one of my scheduled days, and besides, today is an important day in United States history, as forty-two years ago today, the first episode of The Flintstones, a cartoon series, aired on television, making the phrase "YaBaDaBaDo" popular (the word is pronounced as it is spelled in the title of today's blog entry).

I cannot take credit for remembering the significance of today; as it is Cam (a cardinal who regularly visits my terrace garden) who reminded me of this fact. 

It came up in a conversation I had with her when I was discussing my sequel to one of my garden themed Virtual Stories (mini movies and flip books) within my You Tube Library. 

The one Cam and I were discussing is titled Words in my Beak (Book One), and it featured her exclusively. I was letting Cam know that in the sequel I may include the other birds (Cam's entourage) which also visit here. At this time the birds who come to my garden to nosh include Cam's child, as well as her significant other, house finches, mourning doves, and blue jays.

Cam was apprehensive about sharing the spotlight and pointed out to me that the book's title is "my beak" and not a plural pronoun! Cam explained that her beak is very versatile, and, she told me that one of her ancestor's beaks was the basis for the way birds' beaks were used in The Flintstones! Then Cam referred me to the following video on You Tube!



I had forgotten that in this cartoon series a tip of a bird's beak was "used" as needle for a record player (a turtle); and that its beak followed the groove of the record. Cam glowed with pride for her bygone ancestor whose beak inspired the Flintstones' record player needle. And, in fact, Cam had been gesturing so much as she related the story that she nearly lost her balance (as seen in the image below) from atop the rim of my 'Tamukeyama' (Japanese Red Maple)'s container, a place where Cam loves to perch.

She seems to gravitate towards that vantage point as it gives her a bird's eye view (excuse the pun) into the apartment of the building directly east of me. If it were me, I would not choose that view, as I don't care for television; and, besides, the woman who lives there is constantly using her window sill as an ash tray, as seen in the images below.

Cam is much more tolerant of cigarette smoke than I am; my father had a horrific death due to a bout with emphysema, brought on by his nearly two pack a day Pall Mall habit. Part of his dying words were, "When I die, the cost of cigarettes will sky rocket as the tobacco company will miss my revenue."

The Last Friday in September

Today is the last Friday in September and what a month it has been for the things that live in (and visit) my terrace garden! For, as those of you who follow me here on Blogger (or on TLLG's Facebook Page Pinterest  Boards, or tumblr) may recall, my urban (NYC) garden has been going through a major upheaval, and I’ve been quite concerned about the well being of the things I grow. Additionally, I've been a bit worried about the survival of the birds which visit my place.

These birds include Cam, a cardinal, and her entourage of house finches, mourning doves, and also, perhaps, as of this week, blue jays. Stories about these birds can be found in blog entries which I've made by here and here as well as here respectively. 

The blue jays are newcomers to my garden; and I discovered one, in a chance encounter, this past Tuesday when I was preparing for Juan V, and, as I mentioned in a tumblr post, I had no idea if I'd ever see it again! However, it appears it has returned (although at this time I have no way of telling if it's the same one); and that it has brought along a camera-shy friend — as evidenced by an image of the two of them sitting in my  Acer palmatum var. dissectum ‘Tamukeyama’ (Japanese Maple)’s container, an image I've posted at the top of today's blog entry.

This wonderful tree was also visited by Cam this morning, which I am considering a mini miracle, because I was not sure if I'd her see her again! I actually prayed for her safety, as  a result of yet another trauma to my garden: a trauma which occurred after the "renovation" was "completed," and after Juan V and I had put most everything back where it needed to be. 

If you'd like to read about this latest upset in my garden, which was the result of an accident in my hood, you may read about by clicking here.

Ta da! I've put a SQUARE PEG in a ROUND HOLE!

September 22, 2012

September 25, 2012

Once again, due to the upheaval in my urban (NYC) terrace garden,  I'm posting on a non-scheduled day, but I want to play catch-up so I can return to my "regularly scheduled program" on Friday, September 28th 2012.

The First Day of Fall in 2012: It is the "BEST of TIMES" (AND) it is the "WORST of TIMES . . . "

September 2011

Second Tuesday in September 2012

Third Thursday in September 2012

Today, September 22nd 2012, is "offically" the first day of autumn; and I'm spending it in the throes of the upheaval in my rooftop garden (located in NYC) an upheaval that has interrupted my life, as well as the lives of the 80+ things which I grow here, and the lives of the occasional bee, loner cardinal (who I've now named Cam), and Cam's entourage of House finches, Mourning doves and House sparrows.

The disruption has thrown my Blogger posting schedule off a bit; and I apologize if you visited me here on days I've agreed to post only to find nothing new; but, as you read along, I'm sure you will realize why this occurred, for, as you know, under most circumstances I keep a schedule I've committed to!

Be that as it may, you my recall that in my last entry here on Blogger, which was Friday, September the Fourteenth, I posted an entry where I discussed a few of the things which I had lost in my garden due to their dying or their need to be relocated.

“God loved the birds and invented trees. Man loved the birds and invented cages.”

The sweet cardinal who visits my garden usually sits in "her" perch in a tree in my neighborhood, where she often sounds like a telegraph machine, perhaps she's up there texting her birdie comrades, as to if I've put out any food for them to nosh on. Today in between her "tick-tick-tick" sounds, she was quoting Jacques Deval who is known for saying, "God loved the birds and invented trees. Man loved the birds and invented cages." I think she may have actually picked up this quote from reading my blog, for this past December, here on Blogger, I made reference to Deval, in relation to his quote about flowers and vases; if you'd like to refer to my entry regarding this, please click here.

I have good reason to believe she spends a lot of time gazing at the computer, for she has a bird's eye view into my window, and the minute, and I do mean minute, I turn on my lights in the morning, she begins her "tick-tick-tick" texting to let other birds know that I am awake and will be putting out food for them!

The Eleventh Anniversary of Nine Eleven

Today is the eleventh anniversary of the Nine Eleven, when terrorists flew planes into buildings, including the Twin Towers in lower Manhattan. At 8:46 AM they hit the north tower, a building I had been to only three weeks and one day prior for a job interview (at GENERAL TELECOM, INC), which was on the 83rd Floor of 1 WTC. I've written about this and other things related to the terrorist attacks in prior posts here on blogger, and you my refer to these entries by clicking here. It is a solemn day and a time to be silent so I will leave today's posting with heartfelt thoughts and prayers for the losses endured by everyone.

Grandpa's Day

Today, September 7th, is "Grandpa's Day," according to the Holidays and Celebrations web-page, a page which is on my radar because I design invitations that preserve moments in time, event program covers that enhance any occasion, and greeting cards that go beyond communication.

It is not a day that I am familiar with, but when I was a child it seems as if everyday was "Grandpa's Day," for my sisters and I were very close to our maternal grandfather, as you might surmise from the picture posted above today's blog entry, which features us with him, and is an image you may recognize from an entry I posted in May of 2011 when I attempted to challenge the adage that bad things happen in threes.

It was my maternal grandparents and their siblings (my great uncles and great aunts) who gave me an appreciation for the elderly; and I am thankful to discover that at least a day is set aside to honor grandfathers, especially in my country of America, where often elderly people aren't exactly revered.

A few lines from Herb Gardener's play (I'm Not Rappaport) sum up an unfortunate truth regarding our society (in the United States), "You collect old furniture, old cars, old pictures, everything old but old people. Bad souvenirs, they talk too much, they look like the future and you don't want to know . . . put them with their own kind, a building, a place, a town, put them someplace . . . the problem's not that life is short but that it's long; so you better have a policy."

"The old people, they're the survivors, they know something, they have not stayed late to ruin your party. The very old, they are miracles like the just born; close to the end is precious like close to the beginning. . . "

It is the last line of the playwright's narative that has become a slogan for a project I've launched on indiegogo; a campaign to raise awareness about the value of the elderly community through the "voices" of what lives in a garden.

FALL 2018 ADDENDUM: 

I no longer actively produce event program covers, invitations and the types of greeting cards described here or on my website but arrangements might be able to be made under certain circumstances. My focus is on the Words In Our Beak book series, pictured below...

MY BOOK SERIES

...whose stories are told from the point of view of Cam, a female cardinal, whose photo is on the cover of each book. 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. 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 books include hundreds of images of flora and fauna, links to movies, as well as to informative narratives that have been created by the author.

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.

A Lone Seagull Contemplates the Morning After: Tuesday Following Labor Day (But in Cyber-Land: "If it's Tuesday, it must be tumblr . . . " Week No. 32)

The sweet seagull seen in this image is possibly feeling the effects of withdrawal (I say "possibly" because I do not want to presume to know her feelings or thoughts) on a quiet Tuesday (day after Labor Day Tuesday), morning on Robert Moses State Park Beach, as she looks out into the Atlantic and wonders where another summer has gone. A summer she not only shared with her seagull comrades and sandpipers, but a summer where she has shared "her" turf, a sandy beach, with hoards of local folks who live close by as well as folks, such as yours truly, who managed to escape the concrete jungle of New York City for a chance to replace the roar of sirens with a roar of the Atlantic's mighty waves!

Ruffling Feathers

According to Garden Quotation's web page, someone once said, "The man who doesn't relax and hoot a few hoots voluntarily, now and then, is in great danger of hooting hoots and standing on his head for the edification of the pathologist and trained nurse, a little later on."

So, in light of this "breaking news," I plan to take Labor Day off today in order to return to Robert Moses beach for a hike to the lighthouse, and I'm even going to remember to take the battery to my camera this time in the event I can grab a few photo-ops.

I might ruffle some feathers by taking a few hours off, but the house finch (seen here) who visits my urban garden assures me ruffling feathers is not such a bad thing — especially if it "saves" you from "hooting to trained nurses and pathologists!"