Friday Follow Up: Miracle on the Hudson

CANADIAN GEESE ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

The photo atop this entry features a pair of Canadian geese walking on a sheet of ice that is covering a lake in Central Park. I was surprised to see this happening as this bird type can often be seen trying to keep their feet warm. A way that they do this is to stand on one foot and tuck the other one under their breast, as evidenced in the following pictures.

Doing this action to keep warm was impossible for Kaitlin, a goose who lost most of her right leg to fishing line while swimming in Central Park's Boat Lake. Apparently this accident occurred a years ago and her mate, a faithful gander, remains at her side as he attempts to protecting her from harm, as seen in the next photograph.

If you'd like to learn more about this avian couple's compelling story, it can be found in my article, The One Legged Goose and Her Faithful Partner, which was published by ilovetheupperwestide.com

Not only are Canadian geese loyal partners, they both take part in the parenting of their goslings as you migh surmise upon seeing the following image.

This image along with others of a Canadian geese family is featured in volume two of my book series, Words In Our Beak (AKA WIOB).

MY BOOK SERIES

In any event, this bird type is on my mind today because this last Friday, January 15th,  (which also happpened to be Martin Luther King's birthday), marked the eleventh anniversary of The Miracle on the Hudson, when Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III had to make the difficult decision to land US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River off Manhattan after both engines were disabled by a bird strike by Canadian geese. All 155 people aboard survived. 

As stated in many articles about the event, including one published in The Guardian, the outcome wasn't so good for the geese.

Monday's Musings Father's Day 2020

Yesterday was Father's Day and the photographs atop this entry are ones from various moments of childhood and they feature me with my dad on various occasions.

He moved out of our house the year the latter picture (where I have a cast on a broken wrist) was taken; so Father's Day can be such a bittersweet holiday for me.

Sometimes bitter because he left when I was so young and I subsequently spent most of my life trying to garner his attention and approval to very little avail.

Moreover, he passed away in 1995 and that adds to my sadness on Father's Day.

But Father's Day can also be sweet because no matter what, a father is still a father, and mine had a quick wit, which is a trait I have when I don't take myself so seriously.

"Young waterfowl face many challenges but are well-adapted..." Tuesday's Truths WK 139

A couple of weeks ago while I was near the northeast corner of Turtle Pond in Central Park, I came upon a Mallard with her ducklings. These birds can be seen in the photographs atop this entry.

The ducklings captured my heart with their actions and I'm sure you'll see why they did upon looking at the next set of pictures.

Seeing these ducklings engaging in life, prompted me to do some research to learn more about these sweet-looking creatures.

Parents Day is for the birds!

IMAGE CREDIT

This is the fourth Sunday for the month of July 2019 which means it is Parents Day. A number of web-sources (including National Day AKA ND) ) concur, "National Parents’ Day honors all parents on the fourth Sunday in July. No matter where our parents may be, this day serves to celebrate their important role in our lives. 

ND (and other web-pages) also claim "President Bill Clinton established National Parents’ Day in 1994 when he signed Congressional Resolution (36 U.S.C. § 135) into law. The recognized the '…uplifting, and supporting the role of parents in the rearing of children.' Republican Senator Trent Lott introduced the bill. "

I am honoring the holiday by posting a copy (atop this entry) of a Peanuts Comic Strip which was published long before (8-1-1978) Clinton created a holiday for parents. The strip paints a picture of how a relationship between a parent and child can be.

But Parents Day is also for the birds, for when it comes to the avian community, both parents play a significant role in rearing their young.

Sunday's Sequel to Yesterday's Post

OTHER ROBINS ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME THREE

Yesterday here on Blogger, my post included a very young American robin who can be seen in the picture atop this entry which was included in that posting. This little creature was not the only young bird enjoying the first day of June in Central Park.

"take a gander" (Wednesday's Wisdom)

CANADIAN GEESE ARE FEATURED IN VOL 2

CANADIAN GEESE ARE FEATURED IN VOL 2

The photographs atop this entry feature a Canadian goose, a Canadian gander and their goslings enjoying time together as a family while in Central Park.

These birds are featured in volume two of my book series, Words In Our Beak...

MY BOOK SERIES

... and is evidenced in the picture below of Chris Deatherage's selfie where he is holding a part of the book that includes these avian creatures.

SOME PAGES FROM VOLUME TWO

Chris, as you may know, is the designer of my web-site, patriciayoungquist.com and the editor as well as the formatter of this book series.

My appreciation for them is no secret given the number of blog posts which discuss these birds. In any event, the other day I stumbled upon information related to an idiom ("take a gander') which is associated with the male goose.

Feast of the Epiphany and Related Matters

Today is the Feast of the Epiphany, (also known as Three Kings Day), a celebration that I've blogged about in bygone years. I don't have anything to add to my musings re that subject, so please click here to read my former entries and have yourself a blessed Epiphany!

Meanwhile, because there were three kings it's a good time to once again DISPEL (I first attempted to do this here on Blogger in 2011) the adage, "bad things happen in three."

The Sixth Day of Christmas 2018

IMAGE CREDIT

It's The Sixth Day of Christmas, the day (according to a song) when someones's true love gave to them six geese a laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree. In honor of Christmas's Sixth Day, I've posted an illustration of geese a laying atop this entry.

Re the reference to these birds in the song, a web-page (12 Birds of Christmas) has this to say: "The important element is the "a-laying" part. The Egg represents the birth, creation and new life. And what about the number Six? Because of the shape of the number, which is a continuous, spiraling curve without angle, it too represents the cycle of life. Geese, when they aren't a-laying, are birds of the Air, an element that includes the sky and the heavens."

As you can see, geese a laying are certainly the theme of the illustration that I've included here; as for me, over the many times that I've seen geese (the Canadian variety) in Central Park, they certainly haven't been a laying.

The Third Day of Christmas 2018

It's The Third Day of Christmas; a day when someone's true love gave to them three French hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.

Many web sources concur that "French Hens were very expensive during the 16th century, and thus are symbolic of the three costly gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh given by the wise men (Matt. 2:10-11). An alternate significance is symbolism depicting the value of three virtues, faith, hope, and charity (sacrificial love) (1 Cor. 13:13). Other forms of the song use the French Hens to symbolize the three persons of the trinity."

I don't have three French hens, so, today in honor of them being given as a gift, I'm offering three views of French Canadian geese enjoying Central Park with their three goslings.

GEESE AND GOSLINGS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 2

GEESE AND GOSLINGS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 2

GEESE AND GOSLINGS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 2

By the way, Canadian geese and their goslings are included in the second volume of my book series, Words In Our Beak.

Galeux d’Eysines, Bumpy Gourds, & The Muscovy Duck, what's bumps got to do with it? (Tuesday's Truths WK 95)

In yesterday's blog post, I mentioned that while on my way to a greenmarket and the green-flea (on the UWS) this past Sunday, I noticed (as did many others, including the police) that a raccoon was looking down (from the tree tops near some scaffolding) on all who passed by. I also mentioned that I was at the market longer than I anticipated, so I never did find out what happened to the creature; for when I returned all evidence of the incident, including on-lookers and policemen were gone.

One of the reasons for my tarrying at the greenmarket was that I spotted a pair bumpy looking pumpkins (pictured above) at Gaia's Breath Farm's "vending" stand and took the time to ask about them. I learned from a kind woman working there that these are a variety known as a peanut pumpkins, a term which I immediately googled after putting the one I got atop the urban hedge in my rooftop garden.

According to a gardening-related web-page, "the peanut pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima ‘Galeux d’Eysine’) is an heirloom pumpkin varietal notable for its distinctive peanut-like growths peppering the exterior of its pink hued rind. Certainly unique looking, some might say unattractive, the 'peanuts' are actually a buildup of excess sugar in the flesh of the pumpkin."

I was not surprised to learn that some say the Galeux d’Eysine was "unattractive" because of having peanut-like growths. However, it is the peanut-like growths that drew my attention, because they reminded me of my own lumps and bumps (that I deplore so much that I rarely alllow my picture to be taken, but for purposes of this entry, one is included towards the end) which I have as a result of being born with the medical (neurological) condition, Neurofibromatosis Type-One.

Tuesday's Truths, the Ninety-Second Week: "Vous pouvez porter blanc toute l' année!"

CoCo Chanel's quote, "Vous pouvez porter blanc toute l' année," that's within the title of today's post may sound familiar to you, dear reader, as it was included in the title of a blog post that I published here on the Tuesday after Labor Day in 2011 (although at that time I was not running my Tuesday's Truths series).

Incidentally, the picture atop this entry was also featured in the aforementioned entry. When I wrote that entry, I referred to the white flowers which were growing in my rooftop garden including a variety of Echinacea, such as the one seen in the photos directly below....

...  as well as the flowers growing on my Autumn Clematis.

I'm not sure why I didn't mention (in the blog post which I've been referencing) the white flowers produced by my Tree Peony — AKA Paeonia suffruiticosa — whose flowers are featured in the images below...

THIS PEONY IS FEATURED IN VOLUME ONE

THIS PEONY IS FEATURED IN VOLUME ONE

THIS PEONY IS FEATURED IN VOLUME ONE

... perhaps I failed to do so because by the Tuesday after Labor Day in 2011 this particular shrub was long past its thriving days (which always occur in April through early May).

Father's Day 2018

CANADIAN GEESE AND GOSLINGS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 2

CANADIAN GEESE AND GOSLINGS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 2

CANADIAN GEESE AND GOSLINGS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 2

CANADIAN GEESE AND GOSLINGS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 2

CANADIAN GEESE AND GOSLINGS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 2

CANADIAN GEESE AND GOSLINGS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 2

CANADIAN GEESE AND GOSLINGS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 2

On Father's Day is good to remember, one cannot (probably) be a good father without a good mother on hand. Canadian Geese realize this, and as parents, they work together...

... A blogger states, "to me they (geese) came to represent the commitment of families – parents who do their best to stay together, who are always there for their children, who help each other and who are predictably where they are supposed to be."

Another web-page points out that "the parents will lead the goslings to the safety of open water within 24 hours of birth. Goslings are able to dive and swim 30-40 feet underwater when they are just 1 day old."

It appears that what this web-page describes what night've been happening when I encountered geese and their goslings in Central Park last summer (as evidenced by the photos I'm featuring atop this entry and some of these are featured in a prior post here on Blogger).

Canadian geese and their goslings are featured in volume two of the Words In Our Beak book series.

FALL 2018 ADDENDUM: 

Hardcover versions of Volume One, Two and Three can be found wherever books are sold.

MY BOOK SERIES

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 via Fine 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.

ADDENDUM SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER 2021:

When the third volume of the hard-cover version of Words In Our Beak was released, I withdrew from promoting my former versions of Words In Our Beak. 

The very first one is an iBook and went into Apple's book store in 2015.

This was followed by an ePub version...

... that is available on Amazon and was also published in 2015.

Subsequently, Words In Our Beak's digital versions were published as a soft-cover book (with slight variations) by MagCloud in 2017.

Its press release can be read by clicking here.  

Now with the release of BIRD TALES....

... I've been advised to make mention of my early versions of volume one of Words In Our Beak, they do vary ever so slightly in content from the hard-cover version of volume one.

As of this addendum, I do not intend to create digital or soft-cover versions of Words In Our Beak Volume Two or Words In Our Beak Volume Three.

A Gray Catbird is on "the pink carpet!" Tuesday's Truths for Week Eighty-Six

As I stated in this past Sunday's post, I  recently encountered a Great Egret for the first time in my long life. This brought the number of new birds I've seen in this Year of the Bird up to ten. 

The other first time meeting of avian creatures that I've seen during this Year of the Bird, include (in alphabetical order) an American Coot, a Bufflehead Duck, a Great Blue Heron, a Northern Pintail, a Red-Bellied Woodpecker, a Red-Tailed Hawk, a Red-Winged Black Bird, a Ruddy Duck, and a couple of Wooden Ducks. 

And, now I've met my eleventh bird, who happens to be a Gray Catbird. My encounter with this bird type actually occurred shortly after I saw my first Great Egret, a little over three weeks ago, when I was in Central Park, This creature can be seen in the image atop this entry, he/she seems to be watching me as I watch him/her.

Another Sunday in the Park WITHOUT George! (But there was a Great Egret ...)

Last Sunday, which was a gloomy rainy day (just as it is today), I was walking with a friend in Central Park, and we came upon a Great Egret. This creature can be seen in the photographs atop this entry. The first two images feature him/her spending time amongst Mallard ducks.

However, that was not my first time seeing a Great Egret. The first time in my long life for seeing an Egret was a little over three weeks ago (on May 11th) when I was also in the park. That Egret can be seen in the next image, where he/she seems to be watching me as I watch him/her.

In the Words In Our Beak book series (pictured below), Cam the cardinal who narrates the stories has a term for the activity of birds watching people: people-ing.

VOLUMES ONE AND TWO

The birds featured in her published stories are mostly ones whom she has met when spending her time in my rooftop garden, not the ones who frequent Central Park.

However, in Volume Two, she does include a story about Canadian Geese and their goslings who enjoy the bodies of water in the park. Moreover, after she finishes volume three (scheduled to be published this fall), Cam may "spread her wings" and tell stories of the birds who frequent NYC's parks.