Saturday's Sentiments

American robins are featured in Volume 3

Early this morning I had my second 2020 face to face encounter with a lone American robin who was spending his/her time in my rooftop garden.

He/she played a bit of peekaboo with me as seen in the image atop this entry. Our encounter caused me to think of the literary critic, Chris Day.

Mr. Day when referencing T.S. Eliot famously saying, "April is the cruelest month," attributed Eliot's' words to the idea that "life and color of spring throw one's depression into stark relief and forces painful memories to surface."

Day's interpretation of Eliot's prose ring true for me on a very personal level and as I mention in a prior post (2019) they remind me of  a poem by Emily Dickinson, which is posted below and is about her first encounter with a robin in any given new year.

"I dreaded that first Robin, so,
But He is mastered, now,
I'm accustomed to Him grown,
He hurts a little, though—

"I thought If I could only live
Till that first Shout got by—
Not all Pianos in the Woods
Had power to mangle me—

"I dared not meet the Daffodils—
For fear their Yellow Gown
Would pierce me with a fashion
So foreign to my own—

"I wished the Grass would hurry—
So—when 'twas time to see—
He'd be too tall, the tallest one
Could stretch—to look at me—

"I could not bear the Bees should come,
I wished they'd stay away
In those dim countries where they go,
What word had they, for me?

"They're here, though; not a creature failed—
No Blossom stayed away
In gentle deference to me—
The Queen of Calvary—

"Each one salutes me, as he goes,
And I, my childish Plumes,
Lift, in bereaved acknowledgment
Of their unthinking Drums—"

American robins are always a welcome sight to me rather they are in my garden or in nearby Central Park and Riverside Park.

Moreover, they are featured in volume three of my book series, Words In Our Beak.

MY BOOK SERIES

In any event, if you look closely at the first picture in this entry, you are likely to notice the presence of burlap, which followers of this blog know, is something I use in conjunction with Bubble Wrap to winterize my garden. This season I did my garden winterizing on 12/11/2019 and all of my containers of flora are still wrapped even though signs of spring are everywhere in my garden.

I have not been able to unwrap anything due to the fact that I'm still recuperating from my injury (breaking my Greater tuberosity) but if all goes as planned I should be able to start physical therapy around March 18th and then unwrap the containers before Juan V arrives to move everything back in place.

Meanwhile, Mourning doves are enjoying the burlap as a blanket to keep them warm on these windy March days, as evidenced in the next series of photos showing various views of a single Mourning dove (nine or ten of them tend to be here on most days).

Mourning doves are featured in Volume 1

Mourning doves are featured in Volume 1

Mourning doves are featured in Volume 1

Mourning doves are featured in Volume 1

By the way, Mourning doves are featured in volume one of my Words In Our Beak  book series and garden winterizing is featured in volume two.

MY BOOK SERIES