National Nurses Day 2021

On this day in 1974, "New Mexico nurses initiated a resolution in 1981 to have May 6th declared National Recognition Day for Nurses. The American Nurses Association (ANA) Board of Directors took up the banner and promoted the proposal. In 1982, the United States Congress designated May 6th to be National Recognition Day for Nurses and President Ronald Reagan signed the proposal."

My maternal grandmother, Clara Fitchie Melahn, seen in the photo (atop this entry) taken when she was a young woman, was 74 years of age at the time Regan signed the proposal. She had been long retired from nursing as she had left her career when she had children.

My grandmother had quite an influence on me, but the only experience I had being a nurse is when I played one (in the 1980's) on a soap opera, "One Life to Live. 

Tuesday's Truths WK 213: Lilies of the Valley can be deadly.

Lilies of the Valley (the flower type seen in the images directly above growing in front of a brownstone on the street where the building I live in is located), are not as innocent as they look, they can be deadly. 

I first was introduced to this flower type when my grandfather, seen in the picture directly below with a tree he had just planted.

His Lilies of the Valley grew alongside of the northern portion of his home which is off camera in this image. He might've been an influence in my liking trres and garden,s which is something I've discussed in one of my earliest posts here on Blogger.

I do not recall ever hearing about the dangers posed by Lilies of the Valley, but if you'd like to read about this phenomenon, dear reader, please allow me to refer you to an article published by The Spruce, and that dear reader, is my Tuesday's Truth for this two hundred and thirteenth segement.

Tu B’Shevat 2021

Just four days ago on January 24th 2021, I published a blog post (where I included a copy of the snapshot above this entry) in which I discussed my maternal grandfather's apppreciation for trees, something I seem to have inherited.

Then last night I had a conversation with a neighbor (LS) about the recent vandalism which occurred in my building and my roof extension garden, I mentioned that a main concern I had experienced during that crime was for the birds who visit my place and who have enjoyed the trees that I have planted over the years.

Knowing my love for trees, LS kindly told me that Tu B’Sheva had begun at sunset then explained that it would end at sunset tonight (1-28-2021). She went on to say Tu B’Shevat (or the birthday of all fruit trees) is s a minor holiday.

My knowedge of many aspects of Jewish holidays is minimal, even though I have a somewhat famous paternal Jewish ancestor, Rosa Sonnenschein, whom I've written about on this blog and who is featured in the image below).

After I spoke with LS, I did some research. I learned (from a writer re Jewish learning who calls him/herself MJL) Tu B’Shevat's name "is Hebrew for the 15th of the Hebrew month of Shevat. In ancient times, Tu B’Shevat was merely a date on the calendar that helped Jewish farmers establish exactly when they should bring their fourth-year produce of fruit from recently planted trees to the Temple as first-fruit offerings." 

Now, honor of Tu B’Shevat, I will share photo-ops of birds enjoying the trees in my garden (during by gone years and at this present time).

I will also include photographs of them enjoying the Ailanthus Trees in the courtyard and trees. I will start with the trees that are no longer with me as a way of honoring their memory.

Sunday's Sentiment: Remembering my Grandfather's Appreciating Trees

My maternal grandfather, Albert Elmer Herman Lewis Melahn, can be seen in an unndated snapshot (directly above) with a tree he had just planted. He died in the mid to late 1970's on this day of January 24th.

National Grandparents Day 2020

MY MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS ARE FEATURED IN MANY BLOG POSTS

I don't want the day to pass without mentioning that today, being the first Sunday after Labor Day, is a holiday known as National Grandparents Day. According to Holiday Insights the holiday "originated in 1978 when then President Jimmy Carter declared it to be the first Sunday after Labor Day."

I've read that "the impetus for a National Grandparents Day originated with a housewife in Fayette County, West Virginia. Her primary motivation was to champion the cause of lonely elderly in nursing homes. She also hoped to persuade grandchildren to tap the wisdom and heritage their grandparents could provide."

I am the first grandchild of my maternal grandparents (they can be seen in the snapshot, atop this entry as well as in the image below which I featured in a recent post here on Blogger.

MY MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS ARE FEATURED IN MANY BLOG POSTS

In any event, both of these photos were taken in bygone — way bygone — years and I hope the Welsh proverb, "perfect love sometimes does not come until after the first grandchild," proved true for my maternal grandparents.

I feel very fortunate to have grown up near my maternal grandparents' home, and I've always been appreciative of the wisdom, as well as the heritage they provided — although my maternal grandmother might've begged to differ a she never liked the fact that I moved to New York City.

Monday Musings: August 24th

MY GRANDPARENTS ARE FEATURED IN MANY POSTS

Today is my birthday and if truth be told for the most part, I have always disliked the fact that it falls on August 24th. This is because in college days (which were not good for me) orientations and class registration were taking place. Moreover, I've had an aversion to to the date, August 24th, as it is often the day either the RNC or DNC begins (or began).

BUT when unpleasant thoughts occur surrounding the date of August 24th, I think of one reason (and IT'S A GOOD ONE), to have been born on this day: I am my maternal grandparents first grandchild and I was born on their anniversary.

They can be seen in the picture (atop this entry) celebrating my birthday in bygone (way bygone) years as my dearly departed maternal aunt watches me open a gift.

Many people now know of my grandparents through posts on this blog and because the narrator of my book series, Words In Our Beak, (pictured below) is a female cardinal named Cam.

MY BOOK SERIES

The name Cam is in honor of my maternal grandparents, a fact I've mentioned  in my cyber-venues over the years, where I've explained the "C" in Cam's name is for my grandmother, Clara. The "a" in Cam's name is for my maternal grandfather, Albert. And the "m" in Cam's name is for their surname, Melahn.

Remembering Clara May Fitchie Melahn

CLARA MAY FITCHIE WITH SIBLINGS

My maternal grandmother, Clara May Fitchie Melahn, was born on this day of July 23rd in the 1900. She always hated the fact that she was born within that year because her age could be calculated so easily. In any event, she can be seen (standing at the right) in the back row with her siblings in the photo atop this entry (which has been featured in a number of entries here on Blogger).

In Memory of my Maternal Grandfather

MY GRANDFATHER MAKES A WISH

I'm thinking of my dearly departed grandfather, Albert Elmer Herman Louis Melahn, who was born on this day in 1903 (he died in the late 1970s.) The image atop this entry was taken on one of his birthdays in the early 1970's.

My grandmother can be seen helping him blow out his candles and my next youngest sister and I are behind them. We were told to "pose laughing," by my mother, who took the snap-shot when his cake caught on fire. (Our cousin Karl, who is for the most part of camera, is to my left).

Engaging Conversations

An engaging phone conversation is something yours truly has always appreciated, as evidenced by this photo of yours truly taken in bygone (way bygone years).

In a recent FB post on my personal FB Page,  I mentioned how grateful I was that Jenny from Santa Barbara had phoned me to see how I was faring in the lockdowns brought on by the coronavirus pandemic while still dealing with the aftermath of my broken greater tuberosity.

As I stated in that entry, it was such a blessing to speak with someone who didn't set their phone down and walk away from it while still talking to me, making it so difficult for me to hear.

I am mortified at myself for wasting precious moments of life struggling to hear someone who is doing so many things while talking to me.

I guess that's the point. People who do this are talking TO me NOT talking WITH me and I've gotten so used to it I hadn't realized how it made me feel...

Until....

Until I had A REAL conversation with Jenny last week.

AND MUCH TO MY DELIGHT, IT HAPPENED AGAIN!

This past Friday, I had a real and wonderful conversation with an out of NY state a woman named MH, who I only know through Facebook and she phoned me for the same reason that Jenny had: To see how I was faring in the lockdowns brought on by the pandemic while still dealing with the aftermath of my broken greater tuberosity.

I have often phoned people who I know are alone to see how they are doing and I hope it means as much to them as it does to me.

In any event, in the aftermath of my loving with conversation MH, I felt a sense of mourning for all the time lost straining to hear those who are talking away from afar while I hang on their every word and I could not even sleep.

SO...

Rather than fight the tossing and turning, I got up, and for the first time since living in my place, I went into my garden when it was still dark and uttered my own types of prayers while birds waking from their slumber chirped away, engaging with each other in their lyric conversation.

Eventually I went back inside to work on my column submission and heard a bird singing at the top of his/her beak and was thrilled (understatement) to see an American robin had stopped by!

AMERICAN ROBINS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 3

I was not the only one to enjoy the red-breasted songster.

Beloved Albert Elmer Herman Louis Melahn (AKA G'pa to me) Died on 1-24 in the 1970's

My maternal grandfather, Albert Elmer Herman Louis Melahn, died on this day of January 24th  in the mid to late 1970's. He was sixty-nine years old. He can be seen in the photo directly above with my grandmother, Clara May Fitchie Melahn where they are standing in front of one of their favorite restraunts that was located in Crystal Lake Illinois.

This photograph was one of my dearly departed grandmother's favorites, perhaps because of the memories she had of enjoying meals with him at one of their favorite places. For years after his death she laid the framed photo facedown on an end-table. Evidently looking at the image made her miss him even more. I am their first grandchild and the loss to me was great as well which is probably how most people feel when their grandfather dies.

July 23rd is Gorgeous Grandma Day! (Tuesday's Truths WK 135)

Today, July 23rd 2019, would be my maternal grandmothers's (Clara Fitchie Melahn) one hundred and nineteenth birthday had she not died (in 1987) at the age of eighty-six, four days before what would have been her eighty-seventh birthday.

She was born on July 23rd in 1900 and always hated being born in that year because it was easy for folks to do the math to determine her age. She can be seen in the photo (back row on the right) atop this entry with her siblings.

Her day of birth now coincides with a holiday known as Gorgeous Grandma Day which was evidently established by Alice Solomon in 1984.

I am her first grandchild and have written about her within a number of entries on this blog, where in some of them, I have explained that Cam, the story teller of my three volume book series, Words In Our Beak is named for her and my maternal grandfather, Albert Melahn.  She is standing next to him in the last snapshot included here.

THE WORDS IN OUR BEAK BOOK SERIES

National Camera Day 2019

IMAGE CREDIT

According to a number of web-pages, including, National Day Calendar, (AKA NDC), June 29th (which is today) is National Camera Day. One of the things NDC states is "... This day commemorates photographs, the camera, and their invention. A camera is an irreplaceable tool used to record and replicate memories, events, and people/places..." I find it interesting that NDC considers one of the purposes of is to "replicate memories..."

Many of my childhood experiences of being photographed for a family picture seemed be that the intent behind the camera wasn't replicating a memory of what was occurring, rather, it was to creatue  an ideal which wasn't there.

Soon It Will Be Father's Day!

The photograph that is atop this entry is one sent to me by Joan Budilovsky. She wanted me to see how my image, Inside The Cathedral, looked on a wall in her home. Inside The Cathedral is one of my kaleidoscopic photographs which can be rendered on an array of surfaces (including acrylic, canvas, metal, wood, special art papers as well as poster paper) by Fine Art America (FAA) to be used for wall art. FAA can also print the images on items for personal and/or home use.

It's W.E.D. for 2019!

Today, June 5th is World Environment Day (WED). It is a day that has been set aside since 1974 to promote “worldwide awareness and action for the protection of our environment.” Last year’s theme was “beat plastic pollution," and the Mutts comic strip stop this entry, is a small reminder of how plastics can hurt members of the avian and fish community. The following photographs show how plastic (or rather how people's disposal of plastic) harms the creatures among us.

The first two pictures are ones I took in bygone years when I was at Long Beach. The second image (also taken in bygone years) features a Mallard duck, "caught" in debris within NYC's Hudson River.

More info on 2018's W.E.D.'s theme of “beat plastic pollution," can be found within the following three links: https://theatln.tc/2sJsxya and http://bit.ly/2JeDG5l as well as https://ind.pn/2syboIG.

The way people's dispose their plastic is not the only thing harming our avian creatures.

The Sensational Helichrysum bracteatum (Tuesday's Truths WK 129)

Welcome to my one hundred and twenty-ninth segment of Tuesday's Truths which is occurring on the Tuesday of National Gardening Week.

Hence, in honor of that fact, I'll give a shout out to a flora variety known as Helichrysum bracteatum (AKA strawflower). I've grown this in my rooftop garden over the years and quite some time ago, I created the mini movie which documents a week in the life of this flora variety. It is posted atop this entry and can also be seen within my Vimeo Channel as well as You Tube Channel. Additionally I have written about these flowers in prior posts here on Blogger.

A web-page for The Spruce admits that "The name strawflower doesn’t do much to excite the flower gardener" and goes on to say that "it might elicit images of a plant that's withered and tan—but the real strawflower blossom will bring vivid colors to your landscape and craft projects alike. Strawflowers resemble daisies in form, but unlike daisies, the petals are stiff and papery. In fact, they aren’t true petals at all, but modified leaves called bracts."

It's N'tl Gardening Week!

MY ROOFTOP GARDEN IS THE SETTING FOR WIOB

According to many sources, the first full week of June is National Gardening Week.

Their consensus is, "National Gardening Week is a wonderful, week long event. It is both a celebration, and an educational opportunity. National Gardening Week celebrates one of America's most popular hobbies. Tens of millions of Americans, young and old alike, grow a garden of some size. This week is a great opportunity to get out into your garden and tend to it, along with enjoying your garden's peacefulness and beauty. Regardless of whether your garden is big or small, show it off to family and gardening friends...

...National Gardening Week is also a great time to promote this hobby, and offer educational programs to the general public Garden clubs, 4H groups, schools, and even business can get ito the act, providing some form of educational programs, demonstrations, or seminars. As individuals, gardeners can encourage others to start gardening."

As my Blogger community knows, I have a garden here in a hood on the UWS. It can be seen in the picture atop this posting. The photo was taken four years ago and my garden has changed dramatically (in a positive way) since then; so I'd love to take a photo from that vantage point again but the woman who let me do it from her terrace is not likely to find the time to let me do that anytime soon.

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.

Another Saturday in the Park

As I have mentioned a number of times here on Blogger (including this past Saturday's posting) any time it is a Saturday and I'm in Riverside Park or Central Park, I find myself thinking of the hit song Saturday in the Park by the band Chicago, and today was no exception.

I took an early morning walk with a friend (CF) and when we were on a grassy area which was near the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, we witnessed a dramatic rescue. Part of what we saw was a mother raccoon coming to her young one's aid which is what is going on in the video atop this entry.

Someone had been walking their large dog off leash (which against the law) and the dog suddenly bolted after a very young raccoon. This little creature was so frightened that he/she raced up high  — very high  — into the tree tops and sat their trembling as he/she was unable to get back down.

His/her mother swiftly climbed up the trunk and into the tree tops to help her little one. She held him in her mouth as she ever so carefully made her way down the trunk from different angles as you can see in the mini video I created.

How special it was to have so many people gathered round to witness this rescue.

Baby Robin Makes Me Recall P.D. Eastman!

The image atop this entry is a screen shot of a page from one of my favorite books, Are You My Mother?, which is written and illustrated by P.D. Eastman. Eastman's book cover can seen in the next image (from a Wikipedia page).

The aforementioned Wiki Page explains that Eastman's book tells the "the story about a hatchling bird. His mother, thinking her egg will stay in her nest where she left it, leaves her egg alone and flies off to find food. The baby bird hatches. He does not understand where his mother is so he goes to look for her. In his search, he asks a kitten, a hen, a dog, and a cow if they are his mother. They each say, 'No.'

"Then he (the little baby bird) sees an old car, which cannot be his mother for sure. In desperation, the hatchling calls out to a boat and a plane, and at last, convinced he has found his mother, he climbs onto the teeth of an enormous earth mover. A loud 'SNORT' belches from its exhaust stack, prompting the bird to utter the immortal line, 'You are not my mother! You are a SNORT!' But as it shudders and grinds into motion he cannot escape. 'I want my mother!' he shouts.

"But at this climactic moment, his fate is suddenly reversed. The earth mover drops him back in his nest just as his mother is returning home. The two are united, much to their delight, and the baby bird tells his mother about the adventure he had looking for her."

Eastman's story comes to mind on many occasions whenever I see a baby bird looking around and the other day when I was in Central Park and spotted a baby American robin doing this.

Cormorants: Now you see them, now you don't. (Tuesday's Truths WK 128)

I confess that I could spend hours watching a cormorant who seems to be playing now you see me, now you don't (which is what is happening in the silent slide show posted above featuring a cormorant enjoying the waters  of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in Central Park).

This is a habit of cormorants (which you can read about via many web sources, including one of Cornell's web pages) and is my Tuesday's Truth for week 128. On another note, this bird variety is featured in volume three of my book series, Words In Our Beak.

THE WORDS IN OUR BEAK BOOK SERIES

The stories are set in my rooftop garden and told from the perspective of a female cardinal (Cam), who is featured on the covers of each book.