Blogger Patricia Youngquist is an author and a photographer. Her recent e-book, BIRD TALES, is interactive and includes the Blue jay featured above. Prior works include versions of WORDS IN OUR BEAK, where the stories are narrated by Cam, a female cardinal. Additionally, some of her photographs have been licensed by Fine Art America to reproduce as wall art and on to an array of surfaces for various products! Do view both side-bars for specific details on all of this.
BUT if you want to send cards for the occasion and/or give a gift such as a Halloween-themed tote, now might be the time to start thinking about this because while it’s too early for boo-shit, it’s not too late to order products since shipping tends to take time (unless you have Amazon prime).
I have created items (totes and greeting cards) for celebrating Halloween and they can be purchased from FAA (Fine Art America). Samples can be seen here (in the collage posted directly above). To see details my Halloween card, click here, and to see details re my Halloween tote, click here.
To see more of my Halloween selections visit me on FAA by clicking here.
Moreover, some of my Halloween-Themed products are based on images included in volume two of my book series, Words In Our Beak.
On another note, McDonnell and his cast of characters are part of what inspired me to create my photo-comics. They are featured in my digital book, BIRD TALES.
It features a number of birds participating in a variety of activities and is dedicated to all birds and everyone who loves them. An interactive book for people of all ages to enjoy together and is now available via Apple Books.
BIRD TALES is my second book with Apple. The first one, Words In Our Beak, was published in 2015.
Subsequently, Words In Our Beak's iBook version was published as a soft-cover book (with slight variations) by MagCloud.
Following this, Ingram Spark published a hard-cover version of Words In Our Beak Volume One (with slight variations), and they also published hard-cover versions of Words In Our Beak, Volume Two and Words In Our Beak, Volume Three.
The photo directly belows shows that my Crepe myrtle seems to enjoy this time of year, evidenced by her brilliant pink blooms.
This next picture indicates that my Pyracantha coccinea (AKA Orange Charmer) is looking marvelous after Juan V pruned her. She knows that she has bragging rights for she is featured in my first garden-themed movie, The Kiwi Speaks Fifteen Minutes of Fame...almost (which can be viewed on Vimeo and/or You Tube.)
Having said this, I should mention that I was not brought up with any practices in Judaism. I knew nothing about my Jewish roots until I was in my thirties and living in New York City.
Getting back to my ancestors, Fanny 'Wink' Sonnenschein, my father's grandmother, and my great grandmother, had an eye afliction. One of her eyes performed so much less than the other that it caused it to turn completely inward; and she was ultimately nicknamed Wink, by her mother, Rosa Fassel Sonnenschein.
Images of both Fanny and Rosa Sonnenschein are featured in the collage atop this entry.
Fanny is at the left, Rosa is at the right. Rosa Sonnenschein was the "flamboyant editor and publisher of The American Jewess, the first (1895) independent American Jewish magazine, published by a woman" and dedicated to issues concerning women.
I am not certain if Rosa had poor eye-sight and perhaps if she had an affliction, she hid it. However, from what I understand about Rosa Sonnenschein, she was not shy about who she was or what she stood for. This is evidenced in a description that is on the backside of the image I've included in the collage atop this entry.
I realize that text is hard to decipher so I've taken the liberty of posting a copy of it directly below:
This is because they feed on scraps that people leave behind! You can find them on the 80th floor of the Empire State Building and have even 2,000 feet underground in a mine.
These birds are also included in my three volume book series, Words In Our Beak.
One month and one week prior to the attacks, I interviewed for a job with a company that was located on the eighty-third floor of One World Trade.
The day my interview took place was one of the hottest days on record and a receptionist who identified herself as Margaret Mattic offered me a cup of water.
I was subsequently interviewed by Lashawana Johnson.
Ms. Johnson told me she enjoyed coming to work in the morning because she could shop for her young children.
Ultimately I did not get the position but when I heard the news over the radio as the first plane hit, I instantly thought of Ms. Johnson and Margaret Mattic.
Fortunately I had saved the contact information of a woman named Carmen who worked the night shift. I was able to reach her by phone and she gave me the sad news that everyone in the company who worked the morning shift had been killed.
To add to Carmen’s horror, she witnessed the planes flying into the buildings because she had a view of the towers from her Brooklyn apartment.
I know of many people who perished including someone (Josh Rosenthal) who lived in the apartment building where my dearest friend VB was living at the time.
Evidently that very morning he was joking about possibly being late for his job in an office on one of the higher floors of the towers.
Unfortunately for him he was not late in getting to work and perished with scores of others on that morning. The street where he lived was named in honor of his memory.
On a bittersweet note re 9/11, in the Dutch bulb supplier Hans van Waardenburg sent one million daffodil bulbs as a gift to the city. ... 10,000 initial volunteers joined the first planting efforts, and Mayor Bloomberg made the daffodil the city's official flower in 2007.
Every time I see daffodils in the parks, public spaces, and tree pits, I think of those who lost their lives on that day; and I also think of those who now have 9/11 related illnesses.
There are no words…
