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Monday, April 30, 2018

April 2018's Last Day: Was T.S. Eliot right?


As April comes to a close for the year 2018, I'm thinking about the T.S. Eliot quote that's featured in the image atop this entry. Most folks know April is a month associated with the adage, "April showers bring May flowers."

However, it's been my experince in terms of my rooftop garden that April showers TAKE AWAY May flowers, which is something I've discussed in prior entries here on Blogger, including ones which you may reference by clicking here as well as here.

These past thirty days have been trying times (weather wise) for the flora I grow here and two weeks ago, Monday, April the 16th was certainly no exception. NYC's April showers on that day were more like April's torrential downpours.

Sunday, April 29, 2018

"In Sync" by Kathy Ruttenberg


The Broadway Mall Association’s newest art exhibition, In Dreams Awake, (a series of sculptures created by the artist Kathy Ruttenberg) is on view outside a few subway stops in NYC!

The image atop this blog entry is one I took of a pair of sculptures that are located at the south entrance of the West 72nd Street Station.

They are 96″ high x 52″ diameter and have been given the title In Sync. Evidently the other sculptures (all created by Ruttenberg) included within the In Dreams Awake installation are at the following subway locations (all on the UWS).

64th Street:
All the World’s a Stage, 189.5″ high x 52″ diameter
79th Street:
Ms. Mighty Mouse, 120″ high x 48″ wide x 32″ diameter
96th Street:
Snail’s Pace, 74″ high x 114″ long x 48″ wide
116th Street:
Topsy Turvy, 140.5″ high x 52″ diameter
157th Street:
Fish Bowl, 101″ high x 110″ long x 96″ wide

In any event, some details of of In Sync are amazing, as evidenced by this couple's shoes (seen in the image below).


The sculptures will be on display through February 2019 so I hope to have a chance to see them all.

Stay tuned, for I will make a point to post pictures of the other sculptures in Ruttenberg's exhibition as soon as I get the opportunity to view them.

Saturday, April 28, 2018

It's Independent Bookstore Day!

Collage by Chris Deatherage, formatter of the book series and creator of my website.

I received a notification from Ingram, who is the publisher of my Words In Our Beak book series, that I worked on with Cam (the cardinal featured in the image atop this entry) in my Twitter feed that today is Independent Bookstore Day.

She and I encourage you to shop at your local indie book shop in honor of this day and to ask them to order a copy of volume one and/or volume two of our book series.

All you need to give anyone working at the store of your choice is my name, Patricia Youngquist, or the titles, Words In Our Beak Volume One and/or Words In Our Beak Volume Two.

ADDENDUM FALL 2018: 

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.

Friday, April 27, 2018

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.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

WW:* Don't Go Near the Nests of Geese (*Wednesday's Wisdom/Warning)



I learned through my newsfeed (yesterday) that "Isaac Couling, 16, was attacked by two birds while he was competing in a tournament at Wolf Creek Golf Course, in Adrian, Michigan, on Saturday."

The news of the incident was reported by multiple news sources, including Metro, where the photos atop this blog entry were included.

II was not surprised by this report, for in my research re Canadian Geese, I've learned they have been known to attack humans when they believed that their nests were in danger.

Evidently, Couling was near to a nest of geese when golfing.

Be that as it may, both genders of this bird type participate in the parenting of their goslings and are very protective of their young creatures.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Some Reasons Robin's Bathe So Much (Tuesday's Truths Week 81)

ROBINS ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME 3
ROBINS ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME 3
ROBINS ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME 3
ROBINS ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME 3

When I was in Central Park on the day before Earth Day, I saw many wonderful happenings, which I wrote about in a recent entry here on Blogger.

Something I did not include in the aforementioned post is that I witnessed an American Robin bathing in a small body of water in close proximity to a little water fall. He/she can be seen in the act of bathing within the photos directly above.

Monday, April 23, 2018

Another Chance to Celebrate World Book Day! (Monday's Memo)


This past March 1st, a Twitter trend was that it was #WorldBookDay, but I've just learned that today,  April 23, 2018 is also World Book Day!

I received the notification from my web-designer, Chris Deatherage, who also edited and formatted both volumes in the Words In Our Beak book series, seen in the image below.

VOLUMES ONE AND TWO

And with the notification, Chris included the image atop this entry (as you may recall he has created business cards and press releases for both books).

Because I knew that World Book Day had been celebrated this past March, I checked out his news tip, and sure enough, on this day of April 23rd, folks will once again celebrate this unofficial holiday!

Sunday, April 22, 2018

"For the beauty of the earth..."



It's now Earth Day 2018 and in last evening's entry here on Blogger, I promised to post photographs of some of the "beauty of the earth" that I came upon when walking (yesterday) along the Greenway that's parallel to the Hudson River, as well as some of the beauty of the earth that I came upon when walking in Central Park.

Saturday, April 21, 2018

Earth Day Eve: I met my ninth new bird!


It is now the eve of Earth Day for 2018 and as I write this post, it's at a much later hour than is my standard in terms of entries published here on Blogger. This is because I spent most of the day taking advantage of the one of the first full spring like day that we've had here in NYC.

I started with a walk along the Greenway that runs parallel to the Hudson River where I encountered many beautiful sites related to flora and fauna, which I hope to discuss in tomorrow's post in honor of Earth Day.

As for today and my walk along the greenway, I exited it at 104th street in order to head east so I could also walk in Central Park.

Friday, April 20, 2018

This Friday's Facts are FOR THE BIRDS! (especially house sparrows)


E.B. White's essay, DRESSING UP (posted above) was published on this day of April 20th in 1946. Like White, observing the antics of house sparrows gives me great pleasure and the images posted directly below, feature this bird type spending time in my rooftop garden (during different seasons).

SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

SPARROWS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

As some of you know, my garden is the setting for the book series, Words In Our Beak, and the story is told from the perspective of Cam, a female cardinal.

VOLUMES ONE AND TWO

ADDENDUM FALL 2018: 

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.

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.

Thursday, April 19, 2018

Thursday's Tandem Tales For 2018: Ride 1


Fake news (IT'S SPRING!) seems to be posted on a chalkboard outside a bike shop near the West Village, for we are not having spring-like conditions here in NYC!

As I write this post it's thirty-six degrees and windy with a rainfall on the way!

I've often said, "April Showers take AWAY May flowers," and I am now wary of the fate of my tulips, which I wrote about in this past Tuesday's blog post.

In any event, I came across this chalkboard message when I stopped by a bike shop to pick up a replacement CamelBak that was given to me. I have to use a CamelBak to keep me hydrated when I cycle, and last night was the first time that my captain and I have cycled since September 20th, 2017!

Our ride was very chilly and I had not checked the status of my camera so I didn't realize the battery was too low for picture taking.

Therefore, I couldn't document it pictorially, but baby, it was COLD outside (and I'm saying this after having done rides in January and December, but I was dressed for those, I certainly got it wrong in dressing for last night's ride)!

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

April's ALSO National Kite Flying Month! (Tuesday's Truths Week 80)


It's already the third Tuesday in April, and so for this week's Tuesday's Truths, I'm calling on the figurine featured in the image atop this entry to help me remind peeps that the month of April is National Kite Month. It is also known to be National Gardening and Lawn Month (which I wrote about in a prior entry here on Blogger) as well as being known to be National Poetry Month (which I also discussed in a previous posting here on Blogger).

In any event, according to a web-page, "Every year in April Kite enthusiasts across North America celebrate the history and the future of the world’s favorite pastime by letting their kites fly.  It is a month to celebrate the joy and happiness that comes from letting out the line, letting your kite catch the wind, and letting that kite soar high into the sky."

Of course if you are like Charlie Brown, your joy and happiness can turn into frustration, as evidenced in the Peanuts comic strip (which was evidently published on April 12, 1956) that is posted directly below.


Monday, April 16, 2018

The Influence of Douglas William Jerrold + Mutts: A Shelter for New Born Flowers!


Douglas William Jerrold, the English dramatist and writer, is reported to have said, "He was so benevolent, so merciful a man that, in his mistaken passion, he would have held an umbrella over a duck in a shower of rain."

I featured this quotation (as well as the Mutts comic strip that is posted atop this entry), in a 2011 post here on Blogger; where I discussed my concern for a small Japanese Larch (Larix Kaempferi) that I was growing at that time.

This comic strip came to my mind today due to the weather patterns which have been (and still are) occurring in NYC, causing me to feel the need to bring certain flowers inside my home to protect them from losing their brand new petals!

These include Elegant Lady Tulips (seen in my home in the first three images below where the latter picture features her with Hot Springs Water Lilies) as well as Monte Orange Tulips (shown in in my home in the fourth image).

OTHER TULIPS ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME 1
OTHER TULIPS ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME 1
OTHER TULIPS ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME 1
OTHER TULIPS ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME 1

Here's why these flowers are currently inside my home taking shelter from my urban garden:

On Sunday, temperatures were thirty degrees lower than they had been the previous day, Saturday, April the fourteenth.

In fact it was so warm this past Saturday, Juan V suggested I de-winterize (unwrap the containers) where certain flowers were thriving, as evidenced in the following photographs.

GARDEN WINTERIZING IS DISCUSSED IN VOL 2
GARDEN WINTERIZING IS DISCUSSED IN VOL 2
As you can see the only difference in these two images is that I've added text to the latter of them to indicate the flower types who were beyond ready to shed their winter gear.

Saturday, April 14, 2018

Last Minute News re N'tl Library WK 2018




National Library Week is coming to an end. The event began last Sunday (April 8th) with the theme, "Libraries Lead," and in honor of #NationalLibraryWeek, the ALA (American Library Association) let libraries know that this past week was the perfect opportunity for them "to encourage their community to tell their stories." 

Friday, April 13, 2018

No Friggatriskaidekaphobia for Monte Orange Tulips! (Just like the H.F. Young Clematis!)

OTHER TULIP TYPES ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME ONE
OTHER TUILP TYPES ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME ONE

Today is Friday the Thirteenth and a cool fact worth remembering, is that when any month begins on a Sunday, the thirteenth of that month will fall on a Friday. It is a date that can occur up to three times a year (at maximum), which is the case for this calendar year of 2018. It is now our second Friday the Thirteenth.

This past January is was when 2018's first Friday the Thirteenth occurred; and the third and the last one, will be in July. The fact that Friday the Thirteenth can occur up to three times a year, may have been how the rumor that "bad things happen in threes" got started — that is if one fears this date.

Many people truly fear it! Their apprehension has been labeled Friggatriskaidekaphobia.

But what if one is born on Friday the 13th? Does this mean he/she is destined to a life of bad luck?

I have heard an array of answers to that question, and my favorite answer is, “aren’t you lucky just to be born?” 

Be that as it may, it has been my observation that when it comes to varieties of flowers, they do not tend to suffer from Friggatriskaidekaphobia, for they are willing to wake up from their long winter's nap on Friday the Thirteenth!

My first mention of this was in a 2011 blog post where I discussed the numerous and humongous H.F.Young Clematis flowers which opened up on a Friday the Thirteenth in May.

I thought of those H.F. flowers this morning, when I saw a Monte Orange Tulip in the process of waking up from her "winterized womb," and I have featured my discovery in the images atop this entry, where a wrapped "box" full of this particular tulip type can be seen. (The Monte Orange whom I saw rising from her sleep, is indicated by a circle that I've affixed to the second image.)

A few hours after I took pictures of this Monte Orange Tulip, who seem to have disregarded any negative associations with Friday the Thirteenth, embraced the sunshine, as seen in the following set of photographs.

OTHER TULIP TYPES ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME ONE
OTHER TULIP TYPES ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME ONE
OTHER TULIP TYPES ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME ONE

I'm excited to see the fearless tulips pop up today!

Friday Follow-Up: Sculptures in NYC



On Friday, March 23rd 2018, I published a post here on Blogger about a public art sculpture known as Wind Sculpture (SG), which was created by Yinka Shonibare and located in the Doris C. Freedman Plaza (near the 59th Street and Fifth Avenue entrance to Central Park.)

Yesterday, I came upon another piece of public art, a sculpture known as Human Structures, which can be seen in the images directly above, where yours truly is checking it out.

And here's what artnet News has to say about it: "As part of its efforts to turn the no-man’s land outside of Penn Station into a welcoming pedestrian plaza hosting seasonal live music and performances, Plaza33 has installed Jonathan Borofsky’s colorful Human Structures outside Madison Square Garden on the East side of 33rd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues."

Borofsky proclaims that the sculpture, Human Structures is “... humanity connecting together to build our world.” And he "encourages people to stand inside the sculpture and become part of the structure..."

As you can see in the images above, I followed his advice, and if you find yourself in NYC, dear reader, I encourage you to do the same!

Thursday, April 12, 2018

Honoring Tiny Tim & Tulips (Thursday's Tale)

TULIPS
TULIPS
TULIPS

The four images atop this entry feature Elegant Lady Tulips that are just beginning to bloom in my urban garden, which is still in its winterized state, as evidenced in the photographs that are directly above. These images are very similar, I admit, but I chose to include all of them because I'm excited to see them come to life.

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

WW:* Don't chase after people... (*Wednesday's Wisdom)

IMAGE CREDIT

I know someone has a "voice mail that has not been set up" and another who has a voice-mail box that is always "full and cannot accept messages," on both her landline and her cell; plus she has stopped answering my emails. Therefore, I'm so grateful to have seen these words of wisdom (posted above) on Chris Deatherage's Facebook Page. Hopefully they will give me the strength to stop reaching out to no avail; for doing so causes deep pain and brings up all my abandonment issues.

Besides, I'm usually content with my own company, especially if I have a book to read. I highly recommend to anyone who keeps getting no response when they reach out to someone to STOP, don't chase them, it's too painful.

You can always read a book instead, and you'll never feel alone, especially if the book is part of the Words In Our Beak series (seen below).

VOLUMES ONE AND TWO


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 CollectionKaleidoscopic Images and the famous Mandarin duck who visited NYC) can also be found on my FAA pages.

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Tuesday's Truths WK 79: It's N'tl Siblings Day!

CARDINALS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

Welcome to my seventy-ninth "segment" of my Tuesday's Truths series. According to Holiday Insights, today is National Siblings Day, and they state: "National Sibling Day is a day to appreciate and cherish your brothers and sisters. Siblings are truly a special blessing that we probably all too often take for granted. They are often our best friends and supporters through life. Another reason to celebrate is that not everyone is lucky enough to have siblings. Their lives are significantly different growing up, and throughout  life."

But I confess that I think this holiday is for the birds, so I'm featuring them in this entry. Peanut, a young cardinal pictured above has three siblings named Frannie, Vincenzo, and Pica-John.

You might recognize Peanut because I have featured her in a prior entries here on Blogger, including one that was published two weeks ago.

Frannie and her brother, Vincenzo can be seen in the next set of images (respectively).

CARDINALS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS
CARDINALS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

There are no photos of Pica-John because she hates to have her picture taken and since I feel the same way about having someone take my photo, I never push her to be in a photo.