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.
In the photo directly above, a few daffodils are catching some shade from the sun's rays by being within a sturdy, masterfully crafted tree pit. CURBED reporter Diana Budds calls these structures "micro-Edens," but the city's parks department calls them "tree pits."
This is the first year that I do not have tulips in my garden as I was not able to plant new bulbs in 2020 because of the pandemic. In general, my tulip bulbs don't winter-over well even with my diligent garden winterizing. I truly miss having them this year but memories of my tulips sustain me. I have had such amazing varieties during the many years of my having a garden. Be that as it may when it comes to not having tulips in my garden this year, I have been able to appreciate them in tree pits as well as in Central Park. The tulip seen in the photo atop this entry is one I saw there five days ago.
PHASE TWO of re-opening NYC began this past Monday (6-22-2020) and DAY 5, was yesterday (Friday, 6-26-2020). During this second phase, indoor dining is still prohibited, but our mayor (Bill De Blasio) has opened up the streets to allow outdoor dining,
Restaurant upon restaurant have been bringing their tables outside (as I mentioned in a recent post here on Blogger). Recently someone posted cyber-content about this matter saying, "Phase 2 reopening started this week in NYC: street dining is allowed at restaurants. Some parking spaces have been sacrificed."
I commented on her post saying "much more than a parking spot is being sacrificed."
For one thing, an area is now littered with cigarette butts because a restaurant put up a plank (in what would be parking spaces as seen in the image atop this entry as well as in the one directly below) to use as a makeshift counter so folks can drink cocktails and munch on snacks, but they did not enforce littering protocols.
Another place posted a sign on a tree that is growing in a tree pit in front of their place of business.
For this Throwback Thursday, I'm catching up on my #ClapBecauseWeCare coverage as the last one I blogged about was after session 67 (which took place on June 5th 2020), and even though I still participated in the sessions I have not included anything about them on my blog.
The photographs atop this entry are from session 68 which took place on June 6th 2020.
Hello. Welcome to week sixteenth of Tuesday's Truths, which happens to coincide with the day after Halloween. For those of you who follow me here on Blogger, Facebook, tumblr or hometalk, you know that I've discussed I use Halloween decor in my rooftop garden. And you know that I've also created many story-lines re the whimsical characters who have visited both my indoor succulent garden and main living area during the time of Halloween prep; the Halloween holiday itself; and Halloween aftermath. Today's Blogger post content touches on Halloween aftermath among other subjects. The photograph atop this blog features a partial view of what hangs above my kitchen stove.
This past Friday, one of the things that was trending on Twitter was #WhoisthetrueNewYorker. I think one answer to that question can be found in the following video clip by Bill Cunningham.
I suppose Cunningham's "wisdom" came to my mind because the night before the #WhoisthetrueNewYorker Twitter trend, I had gone for my first tandem bike ride of 2016. Readers of this blog, may recall that in addition to my being a writer, a photo-artist, an advocate for birds, as well as an urban gardener; I am a stoker. A stoker in the cycling community is one who cycles on the back seat of a tandem (bicycle built for two). I usually cycle with my tandem captain once a week, weather permitting. Because weather has not been too permitting for a few months, my first ride for 2016 did not occur until this past Thursday, April 14th, which was the night before #WhoisthetrueNewYorker was trending on Twitter. In any event, over the years, my captain and I have made a number of long distance rides. However, if we are cycling on a weeknight, we usually only cycle about eighteen miles, ending up at The Little Red Lighthouse, which can be seen in the picture (below) that I took of it this past Thursday.
Most of the times when we are on the grounds near the lighthouse, we are joined by robins and last Thursday was no exception. The following is a picture that a robin allowed me to take of him/her.
There are also a number of robins in Central Park, and as you may recall I featured them in an entry here on Blogger when I wrote about the recent terror attacks in Belgium. I've seen many more robins since that time, including ones that appear to enjoy congregating near the entrance to the IMAGINE Circle (as seen below).
But getting back to my mentioning the #WhoisthetrueNewYorker Twitter trend, I must confess that sometimes when I see what is trending on that platform, I get caught up and lose track of the content I want to share. Be that as it may, prior to my getting caught up in what was trending on Twitter this past week, I had intended to post something in honor of Tiny Tim, who would've been eighty four years old this past week! (He was born April 12th 1932.) However, it was not until I went to meet my cycling captain, and saw tulips blooming in a community garden (as seen below), that I remembered my intent to pay homage to Tiny Tim, by posting a link to a mini-movie that I created in his honor in 2012.
And my seeing the tulips in the community garden also reminded me that I had intended to post something about this flower type. I currently have an array of tulip varities growing in containers that are on my rooftop garden, including the Parrot Blumex variety which can be seen in the following pictures.
The Parrot Blumex tulip variety, is one of many tulip types Cam (the cardinal who visited me and let me become her co-author), discusses in her digital book, "Words In Our Beak Volume One."
But getting to my being in the West Village to meet my bike captain: not only did I see tulips in the community garden that is hear to her home, I saw some tulips in window boxes on the street where she lives.
Seeing these window-box-tulips was yet another reminder that I had intended to post something related to Tiny Tim as well as this flower type. But these flowers also caused me to recall that I had not lost track of my intent of what I hoped to write; rather, my problem may have more to do with my ambivalence in expressing an idea that is not trending.
E.B. White, an author I've referred to a number of times in my cyber-venues (especially here on Blogger), had the following to say about the type of ambivalence that I am prone to experience. (This insight of White's is something I included in a prior post here on Blogger when I wrote about the lighting scheme in my garden, in September of 2011.)
UNWRITTEN, by E.B. White
"Sometimes we regret our failure to write about things that really interest us. The reason we fail is probably because to write about them would prove embarrassing. The things that interested us during the past week, for example, and that we were unable or unwilling to write about (things that stand out clear as pictures in our head) were: the look in the eye of a man whose overcoat, with velvet collar was held together by a bit of string; the appearance of an officer after the building had shut down for the night; the obvious futility of the litter; . . . a man on a bicycle on Fifth Avenue; a short eulogy of John James Audubon, who spent his life loafing around, painting birds; an entry in Art Young's diary about a sick farmer who didn't know what was the matter with himself but thought it was biliousness; and the sudden impulse that we had (and very nearly gratified) to upend a large desk for the satisfaction of seeing everything on it slide off slowly on to the floor." I haven't upended my desk, as it's far too heavy. Besides any satisfaction in seeing everything on it slide to the floor would quickly be replaced by frustration at the task of putting it back together! Therefore to avoid giving into any temptation to upend my desk, I'll try to avoid the temptation of believing what's trending on Twitter is more important than what I have to say.... and give into my muse and write about what really interests my co-author the cardinal Cam and I.
FALL 2018 ADDENDUM:
I no longer actively produce event program covers, invitations and the types of greeting cards described here or on my website but arrangements might be able to be made under certain circumstances. My focus is on the Words In Our Beak book series, pictured below...
...whose stories are told from the point of view of Cam, a female cardinal, whose photo is on the cover of each book. Words In Our Beak’s goal is to open readers to a simple understanding of the winged world and their environment. Set in my rooftop urban garden in New York City. Words In Our Beak is directed to children and adults who are curious about birds, and want to learn about them from a unique perspective. The books include hundreds of images of flora and fauna, links to movies, as well as to informative narratives that have been created by the author.
Please click here to go to my blog post that provides details as to where you can get these books.
Additionally, I have rendered some images from these books into other formats and they are available viaFine Art America(FAA). Some of my other photographs (Black & White Collection, Kaleidoscopic Images and the famous Mandarin duck who visited NYC) can also be found on my FAA pages.
Today, May 31st, is The Feast of the Visitation; and the "fruit" of this "event" is love of neighbor, which is not always so easy to do. The day commemorates when Mary — even though she had just received her "own news" — visited Elizabeth with the conviction that she might need help. Being a good neighbor is not always easy, especially in this day and age when folks are bombarded with obligations and commitments; but I find it sad that in a time when there are so many ways (as well as venues) in which to communicate, a number of folks simply do not do it! And often being a good neighbor simply involves listening to his/her thoughts, worries, concerns, struggles as well as sharing the good times. These are moments worth taking — and even preserving — as Lou, a gentleman living in New York has done by "installing" a tree-pit in honor of his dear friend who lost a battle with a terminal illness.
