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Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Wednesday's Wisdom: A Re-Visited Lesson! (From Thoreau, whose b'day is today)

SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS
SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS
SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS
SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS
SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS
SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

On this day in 1817, Henry David Thoreau was born in the town of Concord Massachusetts. I have written about him a number of times here on Blogger, and if you'd like to refer to those posts, please click here. I think of the wisdom shown in Thoreau's writings on many occasions, but even more so when I encounter a house sparrow, which happens on countless occasions, given the number of this bird type that are living in NYC.

The six photographs atop this entry feature sparrows alighting atop various flora as well as various places (during all season) in my rooftop garden.

The next set of images feature sparrows alighting on an array of spots in Central Park.

SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS
SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS
SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS
SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

But getting back to Thoreau's connection to sparrows as I want to make sure I honor him on his birthday, the following is what he had to say re this bird type: “I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance than I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn.”

Although I've never had the pleasure of having a sparrow alight on my shoulder, even for a moment, whenever I see one alight anywhere, especially within my garden, I too, feel "distinguished by that circumstance."

One of the most recent times that I observed a sparrow alighting upon a place in my garden was this past Sunday, when I noticed a sparrow alighting upon a wreath-style bird feeder that is placed in the northeast corner of my garden, as seen in the following picture.

CARDINALS + SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

The sweet sparrow seems to be doing some birding, for her eyes are intent on a lovely cardinal who is availing herself of one of many peanuts that is placed in this feeder.

However, the cardinal did not seem to enjoy being scrutinized by the sparrow as evidenced in the photo directly below.

CARDINALS + SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

As you can see, this cardinal appears to be "shouting" at the sparrow, who has moved from her viewing spot, and is now peering at the cardinal from the right side of the feeder (midway in this image).

Be that as it may, there is one cardinal who is extremely empathetic when it comes to sparrows, and that is Cam, pictured below in an image that features the cover of her book, Words In Our Beak Volume One.



In her story, Cam reveals her sympathy for the way Saint Matthew references sparrows, especially  when he stated,"Fear ye not, therefore; ye are of more value than many sparrows."

Thankfully, Thoreau valued this little creature!

Therefore, on the birthday of Henry David Thoreau, it seems appropriate to be reminded of this fact.

Of course Thoreau is associated with many writings, as well as quotes pertaining to nature, and those are easily found in any Internet search. This blog post is intended to show my the affinity (love of the sparrow) that Thoreau has epitomized in his quotation that I referenced earlier in this post, but is worthy of repeating:

“I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance than I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn.”


ADDENDUM:

Hardcover versions of volume one, two and three can 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 CollectionKaleidoscopic Images and the famous Mandarin duck who visited NYC) can also be found on my FAA pages.

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