It's just another day?

CARDINAL THEMED FACE-MASK AVAILABLE VIA FAA

As we face this day of 1-15-2021, two weeks into a new year, I am reminded of some lyrics in a song written by Linda and Paul McCartney which state, "......Ah, it's just another day. It's just another day. It's just another day."

Indeed it’s just another day and a number is not going to instantly bring about changes to the consequences of where we are today (with the on-going coronavirus pandemic and with our political unrest).

A wise thoughtful, prophetic FB peep (SR) pointed out, “…presidency isn't the answer. This goes beyond politics… So for now do no harm. Try to promote peace and do good deeds. Leave others alone unless you have something positive to offer."

If we heed the wisdom of SR we can make this day and the ones to come more than "...just another day."

New Year's Day 2020

It's the first Wednesday in 2020 as well as my first blog post of the new year. My scantily dressed figurine and I are starting the day off by wishing you and yours all the best.

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!

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.

It's Ditch New Years Resolutions Day + MORE!

According to a web- page on Holiday Insights (HI) "If there's a day to celebrate New Years and to make resolutions for the upcoming year, then there should be a day to ditch those resolutions. That's the reason for today [January 17th]."

HI goes on to proclaim "If you haven't broken or given up all of those New Year's resolutions, you're doing better than most of us. Maybe, you're well along the way to accomplishing them. Maybe, a few are already checked off on your list. Good for you! For many of us, New Years resolutions are hanging heavily over our heads. They have become a burden, and perhaps were not such a good idea after all. Then...... of course, there's the New Years resolutions that have already been broken. If you haven't accomplished, broken, or given up your New Year's resolutions, today is your chance to get out from under them."

So in honor of this holiday, I've posted a comic strip of Dilbert as well as a cartoon by Bill Whitehead atop this entry as they "address" the making of New Years resolutions.

I guess ditching New Years resolutions won't be on my to-do list today because I didn't make any, which has been my standard for a number of years now. I confessed this in a 2011 blog post, where I stated, "It's not that I don't have resolutions to make: I have bills to pay, a temper to monitor, faith that feels watered down and it needs building up, and the habit of swearing that needs to be stopped immediately.

The End of the First Week in 2019

Since this evening marks the end of the first week in this new year of 2019, I'd like to tell you that someone from the FB Chat Team re fundraising has made me aware (this afternoon) of how I could post an update to my personal fundraiser.

It's now 2019 + also the 8th Day of Christmas! (Tuesday's Truths WK 108)

Happy New Year, dear reader. Hope you had a joy-filled New Year's Eve! As for me, I spent part of mine watching the fireworks in Central Park. It was quite a rainy Eve but that did not deter people from enjoying the display, and at least we could have umbrellas! 

I'm told umbrellas aren't allowed in the areas where people go to view the ball drop in Time Square, but as I said in an FB post, that event has never interested me. 

Bringing in a New Year by being in nearby Central Park with mostly 'hood people who are viewing the display of fireworks (some pictures of this year's"show" can be seen directly below) has been my standard for many years; and in fact, I wrote about this event a number of times here on Blogger, including a 2011 entry.

On another note, not only is today the first day of 2019, it's also The Eighth Day of Christmas, the day when someones's true love (according to a song) gave to them eight maids a milking, seven swans a swimming, six geese a laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.

The Eve of August 24th

This evening marks my New Year's Eve, dear reader!
Will you still be sending me a valentine, Birthday greetings, bottle of wine? (I like dry white and rosé...)

My first post for 2018.

Welcome to my first blog posting for 2018. Today is January first, and last night the figurine atop this entry rang in the new year. But he was hardly dressed for the occasion. It was ten degrees last night on New Year's Eve, and it is probably the first time in over seventeen years that I did not go to Central Park to watch portions of the Midnight Run and the annual fireworks display.

Instead, I rang in the new year with some friends at St. Bart's church in NYC, where "a concert to usher in the new year," was being offered.

New Year's Eve 2017

This is my fourth entry for December 31, 2017. It's my final post of the year. The new year is under six hours away here in NYC.

As I write this post, over one million people have been standing in Times Square and the surrounding area for a minimum of twelve hours, on this record breaking cold day/night with temperatures below the twenty degree range (and real feel ones in the single digits).

They are waiting for the ball to drop the minute 2018 comes in. During all my years in NYC, I've never been to Times Square to watch the annual New Year's Eve ball drop ceremony.

I confess that I never had a desire to attend this event. On most occasions, I have no inclination to be anywhere near the Times Square location, particularly on New Year's Eve — especially this year when temperatures are in the teens with real feel ones in the single digits and may dip lower than that.

In any event, I recently came across a video (which is posted atop this entry) that features the time Lily Tomlin and Andy Williams hosted the ball drop (it was an apple drop during those years) in the 1984, when they helped ring in 1985. I hope you enjoy this clip, and I wish you and yours, a very blessed, happy, healthy, and prosperous new year. See you in 2018!

"Oh, Oh, Star of Wonder...."

I took the photo atop today's entry from the vantage point of a NYC street, after seeing the fireworks display in Central Park this past on New Year's Eve which was last Saturday!

The Octave (or The Eighth Day) Of Christmas AND The Start of a NEW YEAR!

It's the first day of a new year! I'm wondering, dear reader, how did you ring in 2017? As for me, I spent mine doing my usual routine of seeing an annual display of fireworks (sponsored by The Midnight Run) in near by Central Park. This event is something I've blogged about since 2010 (at the end of my first full year on Blogger)!

The photographs atop this entry feature some of the images that I took of last night's fireworks display; and as you can see, they certainly lit up the trees and the sky! I can't help wondering what this does to any birds that might've been sleeping in those tree-tops!

In any event, today is also the last day of Chanukah as well as the last day of Kwanzaa. Moreover, it's The Octave of Christmas or the eighth day of Christmas; the day when someone's true love gave to them the following gifts: eight maids a milking, seven swans a swimming, six geese a laying, five golden rings, four birds a calling (or a colling or a coaling), as well as the gifts of three french hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.

As I mentioned in a recent posting here on Blogger, John R. Henderson, has studied the meaning behind the lyrics to the twelve days song, and has posted his findings on a web-page which he has titled the 12 Birds of Christmas. Here's what Henderson points out re a bird type associated with the giving of eight maids a milking on this eighth day of Christmas:

"Here be eight Magpies. Magpies are black birds with milky white patches. Magpies are birds full of power and are portents used in fortune-telling. Eight has many different meanings symbolically, but one very important one is a new beginning. Different numbers of magpies can mean different things, "five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret never told," but eight magpies remind us to put the old behind us as we start afresh. It seems significant but must be only a coincidence that by some reckoning that New Year's Day is the Eighth Day of Christmas."

At this time, I don't recall ever seeing a magpie, although I certainly have heard a lot of interesting facts re this bird type.  Be that as it may, Mr. Henderson's ideas have truly given me something to keep in mind if I ever happen to see a magpie.

Meanwhile, the gift of eight maids a milking on this eighth day of Christmas, will have to be represented by the ornament featured in the image directly below.

I got it at More & More Antiques, an (an exquisite shop located on Manhattan's UWS), that is now selling my fauna-flora-insect-themed postcards.

Today is known as The 7th Day of Christmas! (It's also the last day of 2016!)

Today may be the last day of 2016, but it's also the seventh day of Christmas! And, if you are familiar  with the song known as The Twelve Days Of Christmas, dear reader, then you probably recall that on the seventh day of Christmas, someone's true love gave to them these gifts: seven swans a swimming, six geese a laying, five golden rings, four birds a calling (or a colling or a coaling), as well as the gifts of three french hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.

As I mentioned in a recent posting here on Blogger, John R. Henderson, has studied the meaning behind the lyrics to the twelve days song, and has posted his findings on a web-page which he has titled the 12 Birds of Christmas. Here's what Henderson points out re the bird (swan) type associated with the giving of seven swans a swimming on this seventh day of Christmas:

"A message to celebrate the beauty of the unknown. Swans are birds of elegance and mystery. Seven represents mystery and elegance, largely in part to the movement of the seven planets (only seven were known until 1846). Planets moved unlike all the other stars and had their own intricate patterns – nothing was more elegant and mysterious. Oddly, although the swans are swimming they represent Air, which as an element includes the sky and the heavens."

At this time, I only recall seeing swans in a park not too far from where I grew up, however I haven't seen a swan in recent times. Be that as it may, Mr. Henderson's ideas have truly given me something to keep in mind the next time I happen to see a swan a swimming. Meanwhile, swans for the seventh day of Christmas, will have to be represented by the swan-themed ornament featured in the image atop today's entry.

No, I did not give up blogging for Lent . . . (and other TLLG Updates)

Because nineteen days (or two and a half weeks) have passed since February 21st 2012, which also happens to have been Shrove Tuesday (or the day before Ash Wednesday, a day that marks the beginning of Lent), and was the last time I posted here on TLLG, you, dear reader, might have presumed that I gave up blogging on TLLG for Lent.

Happy 2012!

Happy 2012 from ALL OF US (the succulents, the herbs, the vines, the ornamental grasses, the plants, the flowers, the salad greens, the sedum, the shrubs and the trees that grow togeher in my urban – NYC – garden) at TLLG. And we invite you to view this sweet movie of The Clangers, with a message that can resonate throughout the years to come. (If The Clangers sound familiar to you, a different video – than the one posted below – of them was featured this past Thanksgiving on TLLG.) 

On N'tl Chocolate Covered Raisin Day — During Lent

If you follow my blog, then perhaps the cartoon posted above looks familiar to you as I included it in an entry that I posted this past January, when I discussed my correlation of New Year's resolutions with the resolving to give up something for Lent. And at that time I confessed that I was not usually successful in fulfilling either intention, but had been certain, like the sentiment expressed in the Dilbert comic strip, that there are folks in my life who would like to tell me what I should resolve to do (in the case of a New Year resolution) or strongly advise me on what I should resolve not to do — or what to give up for Lent.


Last Sunday, March 20th, was not only the first "official" day of spring, but it was the second Sunday of Lent, so I am returning to the Dilbert sentiment today, because, besides the fact that Lent is  currently being observed by some people, another fact was brought to my attention this morning: today is National Chocolate Raisin Day. Today's "holiday" was pointed out to me by someone who knows I design invitations that preserve a moment in time, program covers that enhance an occasion, and cards that are about more than communication. With the information on this "holiday" came a note that expressed the idea that "the timing of this holiday (occurring during Lent) was ironic given that many Christians give up chocolate for Lent."


I am not sure what people who observe this season resolve to give up, but sacrificing the agony of not having chocolate raisins would be an easy resolution for me to keep — giving up chocolate covered almonds, chocolate covered expresso beans, or chocolate covered cranberries might prove to be harder . . . 


On another note, I still think that taking on a charitable action (visiting the homebound, assisting in a soup kitchen, helping a friend or even helping someone that is not a friend) during Lent (or anytime) is more virtuous than giving up chocolate covered raisins. I once heard a priest say, "Woe to the parent who tells his child that if you eat chocolate before dinner, God will punish you, because in reality, a loving God would say, 'see that chocolate, go ahead' . . ."
  
So, as far as National Chocolate Covered Raisins Day falling during Lent, well . . . 

Making and Breaking New Years Resolutions (Plus the 2011 Posting Schedule for The Last Leaf Gardener)

As of this morning, January the Seventh, I am finally presenting my 2011 posting schedule in accordance with one —the only one — of my New Year's resolutions. It's not that I don't have resolutions to make. I have weight to lose, bills to pay, a temper to monitor, faith that feels watered down and needs building up, and the habit of swearing that needs to be stopped immediately.

" . . . Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?" (Hmmmmmmmmm, that depends.)

Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind? Many people probably asked this question in the singing of the Auld Lang Syne song as they rang in the New Year a few days ago. 

The answer? 

Sometimes. 

I recall walking up Central Park West sobbing over a broken heart from an unhealthy relationship with a man, when I was confronted by a woman walking her dogs, who cried out to me, "I hope that's not over a man!"

Here's to more Toastin' 'n Postin' in 2011! Happy New Year, Dear Reader . . . and Happy First Anniversary to my First Blog . . . The Last Leaf Gardener

Tonight on New Year's Eve, after I do some "home deliveries" of my New Year's herbs (that I have harvested from my roof-top extension urban garden, and which I've blogged about in a previous post), I will go to Central Park to watch the fireworks and the Midnight Run, but first let me wish my readers a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year and to thank you on this blog's anniversary for your support: "Here's to more toasting and posting!"

"Rosemary is for rememberance"

HERBS IN MY ROOFTOP GARDEN

This is the 363rd day of 2010, and there are only two more days of this decade (in the Gregorian calender) after today passes. The promise of the onset of a new year is an occasion for me to send a card to people who bring meaning to my life. 

While you may not have time to go on my on-line viewing sources to choose a card for you to do the same, I do have a beautiful selection of cards in the store-front pages of my web-site, and I hope you will make it a New Year's resolution to reach out to your colleagues, friends and family from time to time by sending them a card for the array of events that  are bound to occur during the course of  the new year for all persons.