Yet another Saturday in the Park

Two weeks ago when I was on what has become my weekly Saturday walk in Central Park with a friend, we came upon some wonderful nature sightings; a mama raccoon rescuing her young'un and  a baby robin taking in his/her view from a nest, as well as a baby blue jay learning to fly and gosling triplets with their parents.

Today when I walked with my friend, she spotted a number of fish in Turtle Pond and and a few in Wagner Cove, such as the one seen in the image atop this entry. I've never seen such large fish in any spot within the park but I've often seen people fishing. Seeing today's big fish, prompted me to come home and fish around via google for information on fishing in Central Park. Here is a link that leads to info re the Catch and Release Fishing Policy in Central Park. And here are some more pictures of the fish I saw at Wagner Cove.

As I have mentioned a number of times here on Blogger any time it is a Saturday and I'm in either Riverside Park or Central Park, I find myself thinking of the hit song Saturday in the Park by the band Chicago, and today was no exception: "What a day in the park, everyday's The Fourth Of July..."

"... Keep your eye on the grand ole flag..."

Today is Flag Day, a holiday I've written about this event within a few posts here on Blogger. This year I'm honoring it with the YouTube Video posted atop this entry and as you listen (and maybe even sing along), I've included some pictures (below, although in some the flag is quite small) so you can "keep your eye on the grand old flag..."

Throwback Thursday: Philharmonic Fireworks

It's good to be back "on the air" after my recent ordeal which I touched on in yesterday's blog post.

Last night the New York Philharmonic performed a free concert in Central Park. The weather was certainly on everyone's side, but I did not attend. As I stated in the aforementioned  blog post, I am having very rough times health wise and financially (because of my health issues) so I did not go to the concert; but knowing the concert would end at 10:00 PM, I walked to the end of my block and caught the Philharmonic's Fireworks!

My Update

I've not posted for the past couple of days here on Blogger which is unusual for me, but I've been very preoccupied with a  number of issues that are taking a lot of time to deal with. Additionally I have my on going (and life long) appointments with eye doctors, one of them was yesterday. I hope to be back to my regular blogging schedule soon.

Soon It Will Be Father's Day!

The photograph that is atop this entry is one sent to me by Joan Budilovsky. She wanted me to see how my image, Inside The Cathedral, looked on a wall in her home. Inside The Cathedral is one of my kaleidoscopic photographs which can be rendered on an array of surfaces (including acrylic, canvas, metal, wood, standard photo papers as well as poster paper) by Fine Art America (FAA) to be used for wall art. FAA can also print the images on items for personal and/or home use.

As of this posting, Father's Day will be here a week from tomorrow and my suggestion is that you may want to consider giving one of my kaleidoscopic works to anyone that you know who happens to be a father or a grandfather.

Another gift idea would be to give any dad my book series, Words In Our Beak. The goal of the books is to open readers to a simple understanding of the winged world and their environment. Set in a rooftop garden (mine) in New York City, my story is told in the voice of Cam, a female cardinal, who visits it. 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 book includes hundreds of images of flora and fauna, links to movies, as well as to informative narratives that have been created by the author.

After all, Father's Day is for the birds as evidenced by the male cardinal (Mac who is Cam's husband) seen in the photograph below featuring him spending time with their youngest daughter (Peanut).

Remembering my Mom on June 7th

I can't let this day pass without mentioning the fact that I am thinking of my mother as I always often do; but especially on this day of June 7th for it the day she married my father. The marriage did not work out which was understandably hard for her to handle.

Years upon years later, she would still talk about it and when I took a Visual Art Bookmaking class in college I created a book based on this fact.

It can be seen in the image atop this entry. The cover of the book features an image of her that was placed a little above the surface to indicate her attempts to rise above the situation. Inside the book is her torn wedding picture.

Turtles Go Bananas for Bananas

Last In a recent posthere on Blogger, I discussed some reasons that turtles pile up on top of each other as I've seen them do when I am in Central Park. A few days after I published that entry, while taking a walk in by the park's lake, I saw these creatures partaking in another activity which I have witnessed them doing on a few occasions: they were eating bananas, which they throughly seemed to enjoy as evidenced by the pictures atop this entry.

In Honor of D Day...

... I've posted a strip by Charles Schultz atop this entry. There are few words for any anniversary of D-Day but Frances J. Turner found some and expressed them in a poem ("The Hour is Go") which is included in my in memory of D-Day post for 2017.

It's W.E.D. for 2019!

Today, June 5th is World Environment Day (WED). It is a day that has been set aside since 1974 to promote “worldwide awareness and action for the protection of our environment.” Last year’s theme was “beat plastic pollution," and the Mutts comic strip stop this entry, is a small reminder of how plastics can hurt members of the avian and fish community. The following photographs show how plastic (or rather how people's disposal of plastic) harms the creatures among us.

The first two pictures are ones I took in bygone years when I was at Long Beach. The second image (also taken in bygone years) features a Mallard duck, "caught" in debris within NYC's Hudson River.

More info on 2018's W.E.D.'s theme of “beat plastic pollution," can be found within the following three links: https://theatln.tc/2sJsxya and http://bit.ly/2JeDG5l as well as https://ind.pn/2syboIG.

The way people's dispose their plastic is not the only thing harming our avian creatures, I recently came upon a male house sparrow (in Central Park) who had discovered a wad of Kleenex some human had dropped on the sidewalk and he was tearing away at it — and I don't think he was doing this in order to get nesting material; but I made a slideshow of the incident and you can make the determination as to why this little bird was doing this.

My mini video seems to be a parallel story to an essay by E.B. White which is posted below:

In any event, W.E.D.'s theme for 2019 is Air Pollution. As a web-page dedicated to this year's observation reminds its readers, "We can't stop breathing, but we can do something about the quality of air that we breathe."

The Sensational Helichrysum bracteatum (Tuesday's Truths WK 129)

Welcome to my one hundred and twenty-ninth segment of Tuesday's Truths which is occurring on the Tuesday of National Gardening Week.

Hence, in honor of that fact, I'll give a shout out to a flora variety known as Helichrysum bracteatum (AKA strawflower). I've grown this in my rooftop garden over the years and quite some time ago, I created the mini movie which documents a week in the life of this flora variety. It is posted atop this entry and can also be seen within my Vimeo Channel as well as You Tube Channel. Additionally I have written about these flowers in prior posts here on Blogger.

A web-page for The Spruce admits that "The name strawflower doesn’t do much to excite the flower gardener" and goes on to say that "it might elicit images of a plant that's withered and tan—but the real strawflower blossom will bring vivid colors to your landscape and craft projects alike. Strawflowers resemble daisies in form, but unlike daisies, the petals are stiff and papery. In fact, they aren’t true petals at all, but modified leaves called bracts."

It's N'tl Gardening Week!

According to many sources, the first full week of June is National Gardening Week.

Their consensus is, "National Gardening Week is a wonderful, week long event. It is both a celebration, and an educational opportunity. National Gardening Week celebrates one of America's most popular hobbies. Tens of millions of Americans, young and old alike, grow a garden of some size. This week is a great opportunity to get out into your garden and tend to it, along with enjoying your garden's peacefulness and beauty. Regardless of whether your garden is big or small, show it off to family and gardening friends...

...National Gardening Week is also a great time to promote this hobby, and offer educational programs to the general public Garden clubs, 4H groups, schools, and even business can get ito the act, providing some form of educational programs, demonstrations, or seminars. As individuals, gardeners can encourage others to start gardening."

As my Blogger community knows, I have a garden here in a hood on the UWS. It can be seen in the picture atop this posting. The photo was taken four years ago and my garden has changed dramatically (in a positive way) since then; so I'd love to take a photo from that vantage point again but the woman who let me do it from her terrace is not likely to find the time to let me do that anytime soon.

Sunday's Sequel to Yesterday's Post

Yesterday here on Blogger, my post included a very young American robin who can be seen in the picture atop this entry which was included in that posting. This little creature was not the only young bird enjoying the first day of June in Central Park.

Another Saturday in the Park

As I have mentioned a number of times here on Blogger (including this past Saturday's posting) any time it is a Saturday and I'm in Riverside Park or Central Park, I find myself thinking of the hit song Saturday in the Park by the band Chicago, and today was no exception.

I took an early morning walk with a friend and when we were on a grassy area which was near the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir,  we witnessed a dramatic rescue. Part of what we saw was a mother raccoon coming to her young one's aid which is what is going on in the video atop this entry.

Someone had been walking their large dog off leash (which against the law) and the dog suddenly bolted after a very young raccoon. This little creature was so frightened that he/she raced up high  — very high  — into the tree tops and sat their trembling as he/she was unable to get back down.

His/her mother swiftly climbed up the trunk and into the tree tops to help her little one. She held him in her mouth as she ever so carefully made her way down the trunk from different angles as you can see in the mini video I created.

How special it was to have so many people gathered round to witness tis rescue and that it ended well for the raccoons. Not too far away from this scene, a baby American robin was taking in the view.

And a stanza from that Chicago song came to mind:

...Funny days in the park

Every day's the Fourth of July

Funny days in the park...

By the way, American robins are discussed in volume three of my book series, Words In Our Beak, where the stories are set in my rooftop garden and told from the perspective of a female cardinal who visits it and is featured on the covers of each book.

Just as an aside: As of this posting, Father's Day will be here in less than one month's time and my suggestion is that you may want to consider giving these books to anyone that you know who happens to be a father or a grandfather. After all, Father's Day is for the birds as evidenced by the male cardinal (Mac) seen in the photo below spending time with his daughter (Peanut).