As I said in
this past Tuesday's blog post, I've been very distracted by the ramifications of the COVID-19 (
coronavirus) pandemic and now by the demonstrations/curfews taking place in the aftermath of the murder of
George Floyd.
I also confessed it is high time (and even past high time) to think about the beauty of
my garden's flora as well as in the
birds who visit it. However, in spite of my intention, here I am "reporting" on last evening's (June 3rd 2020) sixty-fifth session of
#ClapBecauseWeCare, as well as on an event concerning the killing of George Floyd, for just as the clapping tribute was scheduled to take place, throngs of protestors re the murder of George Floyd marched against traffic up an avenue close to where I live, and a few photo-ops can be seen atop this entry.
Additionally a few more are featured directly below.
I only observed the protest for a few minutes and did so from the middle of my block before heading home to participate in what (#ClapBecauseWeCare) has been a nightly ritual since the last few days of March 2020.
My leaving this scene to clap and cheer had nothing to do with not empathizing with the protestors, rather it had more to do with an inability that I share with many: unable to be in two places at once and the need to continue social distancing as has been warranted during the coronavirus pandemic.
In any event, at last night's sixty-fifth tribute, the woman seen in the next image, who is a regular participant in #ClapBecauseWeCare held up her "Black Lives Matter "sign at the onset of our tribute, as she could probably observe the protest from her high-rise window and still be a part of the nightly tribute.
Some of the other participants in last night's session of ClapBecauseWeCare (that can be seen in the next series of images) may also have been able to see the protest.
I do not have that vantage point from my place, nor do the participants seen in the next two images.
I was a bit distracted in my participation and even forgot to take photos of
Giuseppe and Teresa, regular participants, but I did have a conversation with them while I stood in my garden and they looked out their window. They will be moving away from the apartment where they are currently staying which makes me sad, and I'm peeved at myself for not taking their photograph last night (although I've plenty of them from other sessions) at the tribute.
However, since my intention is to begin to focus on what I was doing pre-lockdowns and COVID-19, I'll not dwell on that, but instead, think about some wonderful creatures (including
American Robins and
European starlings, who stopped by my place this morning.
A robin can be seen in the the next sequence of pictures.
At first I thought he/she was a young one and holding his/her beak open in hopes of being fed. I thought this because the sweet-looking bird seemed to be looking around as he/she held his/her beak open. Then I remembered that when it's hot (which it is today) some avian species will also resort to gular fluttering. The bird will open its mouth and “flutter” his/her neck muscles, promoting heat loss (think of it as the avian version of panting).
But if truth be told, I don't know the motive behind my visitor's open beak, as he/she did not tell me. All I know is that the day is hot and an open beak is one was to beat the heat.
Another way avian creatures beat the heat is by splashing in a bird bath which is what this young European starling is doing in the following photo-ops.
As the captions (for the photos of both robins and starlings) indicate, threse bird types are featured in volume three of my book series,
Words In Our Beak.
And to reiterate what I've been saying here on Blogger, "
During this time where many people are confined to their homes due to lockdown restrictions (re the coronavirus pandemic), these books (whose stories are set in my rooftop garden) are great to have around as a reminder that there is still so much beauty in our fallen world."
It's also good to note that these books make for a great gift to anyone who is a
dad, and with
Father's Day coming up later in the month,
order your copies now to insure delivery in time for the holiday.
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