366 New Opportunities Begin Tomorrow (Tuesday's Truths WK 157)

IMAGE CREDIT

In honor of the upcoming new year, which starts tomorrow, I am sharing this sweet illustration (above) which I saw on the FB Page of bird rehabber extraordinaire, Amanda Remsberg.

I appreciate the illustration as well as the sentiment, but someone should inform the feline featured here that the number of new opportunities this time around will be 366!

My Encounter With a Superb Starling (Monday's Musings)

The photograph atop this entry feature a Superb Starling (Spreo Superbus) spending time in his home which is within the zoo in Central Park.

The Fourth Day of Christmas 2019

IMAGE CREDIT

Today marks The Fourth Day of Christmas, a day when someone's true love gave them four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.

I'm honoring the holiday with the illustration posted above, which is one I featured in last year's Fourth Day of Christmas entry.

Within this entry I'm also honoring the holiday with four pictures of a calling bird known as a Taveta Golden Weaver (Ploceus Castaneiceps) one of the image is directly below.

I saw this bird type during my November visit to the Central Park Zoo, a visit which I discussed two weeks (December 14, 2019) here on Blogger.

The aforementioned entry features some of the other bird varieties (Black Swans, Pied Avocets, Scarlet Ibises, as well as a Victoria Crowned Pigeon and green parrots) whom I observed when I was at the zoo on that day.

Red-crested Cardinals vs. Northern Cardinals (Friday's Follow-Up)

Nearly two weeks (December 14, 2019), I published a post here on Blogger featuring some of the bird varieties (Black Swans, Pied Avocets, Scarlet Ibises, as well as a Victoria Crowned Pigeon and green parrots) who can be found at the Central Park Zoo.

I concluded that entry with a promise to feature (within subsequent posts) facts about other bird varieties as well as other animal types who reside there.

Today I will tell you about one of those birds, the Red-crested cardinal who can be seen in the picture atop this entry.

Boxing Day 2019

Unlike the characters in The Mutts comic strip (posted above), on this day after Christmas,  I am stirring, but like them I'm exhausted, so I'll keep it short.

Today is Boxing Day "which is only celebrated in a few countries; mainly ones historically connected to the UK (such as Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand) and in some European countries. In Germany it is known as "Zweite Feiertag” (which means 'second celebration')."

Christmas 2019

I know the feeling, CB.

I still have Christmas cards to write because I did not finish them due to of difficult personal circumstances that required my full attention; but I did get a few cards out and the ones I still need to send are addressed as well as stamped —  I just have to write notes on them.

Thankfully Christmas is a season — not just one day and with that thought, I best publish this post  and get on to finishing my cards.

Meanwhile, dear peeps, hope you and yours have a chance to celebrate the holiday of your choice or celebrate no holiday if that’s your choice.

Christmas Eve 2019 (Tuesday's Truths WK 156)

CHRISTMAS PAST

CHRISTMAS PRESENT

CHRISTMAS FUTURE

Welcome to my one-hundred and fifty-sixth episode of Tuesday's Truths which coincides with Christmas Eve.

Monday's Memo: My carousel article was published last week (12-18-2019).

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ MY ARTICLE

My latest iLovetheUpperWestside article (published by Mike Miskin), discusses the history of The Carousel in Central Park. You may also click here to read it.

In Memory of Monsignor Robert O'Connor

Thinking of the beloved Monsignor Robert O'Connor on what would've been his 89th birthday had he not died on 4-20-2016. I know I'm hardly alone in saying, how blessed I am for having the opportunity to know him.

Christmas is one week from today!

In one week's time, it will be Christmas Day and thanks to my gardening partner in crime (Juan V), unlike Snoopy, I didn't have to unplug anything to get my Christmas tree to be lit!

AND also thanks to David Denny (DD) for taking aerial shots of my garden!

It was very late at night (Saturday 12/14) or very early Sunday morning (12/15) when DD, his entourage and I did "The Drifters" thing and went "up on the roof..."

By the way, if you look closely at these images you will see that I was able to winterize my garden by wrapping every container.

Soon it will be 2019's New Year's Eve! Tuesday's Truths WK 155

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ MY ARTICLE

Welcome to my one-hundred and fifty-fifth episode of Tuesday's Truths where I'm using the opportunity to remind you that in exactly two weeks time it will be New Year's Eve! I'd also like to  let you know that in my latest iLovetheUpperWestside article (published by Mike Miskin), I discuss how the Midnight Run in Central Park became an annual tradition for ringing in a new year. You may also click here to read it.

Monday's Memo Book (+ "Week-Ender") Bags Featuring "Words In Our Beak" are Available!

It was suggested to me (by a banker) that I create a book bag for my three volume book series, Words In Our Beak. 

A New Perspective re Animals Who Are Living in Zoos (the sequel to my 12-10-2019 post)

The photograph atop this entry feature a Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus Ruber) hanging out with a Pied Avocet (Recurvirostra Avosetta. 

In my recent episode (12-10-2019) of my Tuesday's Truths series, I mentioned that I'd seen the bird type known as Scarlet Ibis when I visited the zoo in Central Park.

NYC will NOT be a NO horse town!

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ MY ARTICLE

The history as well as the ultimate fate of Claremont Riding Academy and Claremont Stables are discussed in my latest iLovetheUpperWestside article (published by Mike Miskin). You may also click here to read it.

My Encounter with a Scarlet Ibis (AKA Eudocimus ruber) Tuesday's Truths WK 154

The photo atop this entry features a Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus ruber) who is a bird type I met in Central Park Zoo nearly a week and a half ago. This variety is found in the wild Tropical rainforests and mangroves of Central America and northern South America.

The zoo's web-page describes them as having  being "solid scarlet except for black wing tips (and having ) a bill that is long, thin and curved downward; (with a) neck (that) is long and slender; (their) legs are also long and thin with partially webbed feet; juveniles are dull, grayish brown and they grow up to twenty-four inches."

Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus ruber) eat "shrimp, crabs, various crustaceans, mollusks, and insects" and have a "life span of up to 20 years."

Additionally "the scarlet Ibis is the national bird of Trinidad and Tobago. It belongs to the same order as herons, spoonbills, and storks. Scarlet ibises forage for food by probing their long curved bills into soft mud. They also are known to sway their bills back and forth in shallow water to capture prey."

John Lennon was shot 39 years ago today!

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ MY JOHN LENNON ARTICLE 

Today marks the thirty-ninth anniversary of John Lennon's assassination. You may also click here to read my recently published iLovetheUpperWestside article where you will learn about the day it took place and the legacy left by Lennon.

Eve of the Second Sunday of Advent 2019

Tonight marks the Eve of the Second Sunday of Advent, a season that I've written about in a number of entries throughout my years of having this blog. Wikipedia defines this time period as a "season observed in many Christian churches as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for both the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas and the return of Jesus at the Second Coming. The term is a version of the Latin word meaning 'coming."

I'm most thankful to have been given a wreath, which can be seen in the photo that is atop this entry (you can read about the significance of the wreath on another Wikipedia page by clicking here).

This wreath was made especially (as a gift) for me by the same women who gave me one last year.

Tuesday's Truths WK 153: The Mandarin Duck May NOT have turned his back on NYC!

Welcome to my one hundred and fifty-third segment of Tuesday's Truths. Today, I feel obliged to share some disturbing news that I found in my feed: "New York, NY — Mandarin Patinkin, a duck best known for making New Yorkers happy, at least for the six months he resided in Manhattan, is missing and feared dead."

Snow Day

Hope NYC peeps are enjoying this snowfall!

It has come before I’ve had a chance to winterize my garden (which I’ll be doing next Wednesday) and it has come on the date that Winter’s Eve (the tree lighting at Dante Park) is scheduled to take place. I feel sorry for the Chinese dancers who are scheduled to perform there.

Sunday's Sequel: Answering the Question, "How low can you go?"

In my Thanksgiving Eve entry here on  Blogger, I mentioned warnings that unusually high winds could prevail on Thanksgiving, causing the grounding of balloons who were set to "march" (fly) in the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.

And as I said in my subsequent entry which I published on the day after the official holiday (where I featured the Macy's balloon who is rendered in the likeness of Chase from Paw Print), "Indeed, there were VERY high winds, but the balloons were allowed to participate..."

I concluded my aforementioned entry by stating, "THE QUESTION OF THE DAY WAS: 'How low can you go?' Stay tuned for photo-ops (in subsequent entries) re the answer to this question!"

Now, two days after I published that entry, I'm still not sure how low a Macy's ballon can go, but I am able to give you a pictorial accounting of what happened in the case of several of them.

In the first picture atop this entry, Sinclair's Dinosaur, can be seen heading south down CPW during this year's parade.